Never a Small Favor
by brokenroots
Summary: Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.
1. Old Friends

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 2,511  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairing<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: I wasn't the first one to come up with the idea of crossing over Burn Notice and Necessary Roughness. That was the evil twin. Hers was intriguing. I was jealous because I wanted to do a crossover. I don't like to repeat what's already been done, so I wasn't going to do one. Then the finale happened. I had this thought that basically became the first scene. And it went from there.

* * *

><p><strong>Old Friends<strong>

"I'm telling you, we need another man on this," Sam insisted, and Micheal looked at him. He'd already heard this argument, and he wasn't looking forward to going over it again. It was old, and he didn't really disagree. The problem was finding the right person to trust, someone who would do what they were told and not improvise. Someone who could get to their target and get what they wanted without compromising the whole operation. The only other person Micheal knew—the only one that would work with him while he was burned—was his brother. Nate was completely wrong for this. He also didn't feel like getting his brother killed. "You know it. I know it. Fiona knows it. Look, this guy knows all our faces. We gotta bring someone in."

"I know, Sam. Just tell me who you want to bring in."

Sam grinned. That was usually not a good sign. "Trust me, Mike, this is a great guy. You're gonna love him. I mean, the guy is—well, he's one of the best I've ever worked with, and that says a lot. He's a SEAL, like me—"

"Sam—"

"I already called him, and he's on his way," Sam said, and Micheal gave him a look. They were not done discussing this. He didn't like not knowing who was on his team, and Sam's friends had a way of creating problems. Like repossessing a drug boat full of money, for example. Needing help recovering stolen drugs. Putting Micheal's mother in danger. Repeatedly. "This guy is not like Virgil. He's not going to hit on your mom. Last I knew he was hung up on this woman—kind of a prize bitch, in my opinion, but—"

"Sam," Micheal interrupted quickly, trying to get the other man to the point already. He didn't have time for this. They needed to set something in motion. Now. Yesterday would have been better. Hayes was going to slip through their fingers, and even if Micheal didn't trust Sam's guy, he was already on the way, wasn't he? They didn't need any extra hassles. "Is the woman going to be a problem?"

"Shouldn't be."

Good, Micheal thought. The last thing they needed was some woman complicating this. A woman other than Fiona, that was. She was complication enough for any job. "Then I don't need to know about her. Just tell me where and when you expect to meet this guy."

"Right now, I assume."

Micheal looked over at the newcomer. It wasn't often that anyone could sneak up on him, though he did remember a stronger than usual discomfort in being out in the open. He had felt the need to rush Sam through this conversation, to leave the area. That hadn't just been his usual frustration or paranoia. Someone had been there. Dark hair, dark coat despite the weather—this guy projected an image, and it was not subtle. The whole thing screamed _back off. _ "You're Sam's friend?"

The man's eyes flicked toward Micheal for a moment and then focused on Sam, taking in the bright Hawaiian shirt and white pants. His lips curved a slight smile. "I don't have friends."

"Oh, come on—" Sam began, and Micheal was tempted to smile. It was the outfit the other man seemed to object to, and most of the time, Micheal felt the same way. Sam liked his clothes loud, and only in Miami could he get away with that.

The newcomer folded his arms over his chest. "You said you had something for me. This had better be good. I did not get on a plane and come all the way down to Miami for you to waste my time."

"Geez, you seen Gabby lately?" Sam asked, pointing a finger at his _friend._ This was why spies didn't have friends. The new guy had an edge to him. He was not just an ex-SEAL, was he? "Because you're acting like you saw Gabby recently. Like, so recently that it still smarts."

"Information, Sam."

Micheal knew that tone. He could hear himself saying those words, just like that, a lot, especially when it came to Sam. He was starting to think that working with this man would not only be useful; it would be entertaining as well.

Sam nodded. "I still got a few connections, and there are a few rumors going around. Well, I took some rumors, got some facts, and I can prove that your boy's shooting was no random fan in a bar. That guy doesn't even like Chicago."

The man in the dark coat nodded. "And what exactly is this going to cost?"

Sam started to hedge. "Well, as much as I'd like to ask for money—"

"—Money I have access to—"

"—I still can't get over the fact that you're working for an ass like Pittman," Sam shook his head, disgusted. "I know he saved your life once, Nico, but _come_ on..."

"You are in no place to judge. You associate with burned spies and former terrorists," the other man said, looking over at Micheal before looking back at Sam. Interesting. This guy knew his stuff—or Sam had been talking too much.

"Geez, point taken. You _have _seen Gabby lately. You're not usually in this bad of a mood."

"Sam," Nico was reaching the end of his patience. It wasn't hard to do with Sam, but Micheal was starting to think there was something else going on with this guy. Maybe they should cut their losses now. No sense in getting anyone killed if the guy couldn't focus. "The information. What will it cost?"

"Oh, right," Sam grinned as he got back on topic. He had been looking forward to making this pitch. "Like I was saying, I'd like to ask for money, and I know you got it. Well, not you necessarily, but hell, I'd enjoy taking it from Pittman because I can't _stand_ that man, but what I—we—really need is... you."

"Me?"

"You. Exactly as is. Have I told you how much that look works for you? No? It does," Sam began, nodding appreciatively despite the glare he was getting. "See, Mike and me—and Fiona, I guess—we got this job. It's a delicate thing, and the guy's really cagey. We _gotta _nail this guy, Nico. He's bad news. Drugs. Prostitution. Pornography. Not the good kind, but the really _sick _stuff. Problem is, he knows everyone we got in play. We just need someone to be... well, you, and we're set. The great thing—and I think that this is pretty damn cool—is that you don't have to be anyone other than yourself. Your reputation will do half the talking, and Pittman's money will do the rest."

Nico shook his head. "I am not prepared to mortgage my reputation on one of your schemes. You haven't told me anything I didn't already know, and while I am not... unsympathetic to your cause, I have a situation to handle at home."

He turned to leave, and Micheal looked over at Sam. "I like him."

Sam made a face. "You would."

Nico stopped as his phone rang. He took it out, frowned at it, and answered it. "Dr. Santino? No, I had not heard. Thank you for keeping me informed. I am sure that part will handle itself. No, I think I'd better continue the angle I have been looking into, thank you."

He hung up and looked back at Sam coldly. Suspiciously. "I suppose you knew about that, too?"

"Uh... not sure what you mean, Nico, but I swear, you help us, and we'll help you," Sam promised. Micheal gave him a look. Sam, as usual, ignored it. "Someone is gunning for your team, and I think I can tell you who it is, but... I need this small favor first."

"With you, Sam, it is never a small favor."

Micheal grinned. Oh, yeah, he liked this guy.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so here's the plan—"<p>

"Can I ask one of your associates to explain it? I would like to expedite this process as much as possible," Nico interrupted before Sam could get started. The man loved to talk. He loved the sound of his own voice. If Nico hadn't already been convinced that the attack on Terrence King was no random shooting over a playoff game, he never would have taken Sam's call. Santino's news had pushed him over the edge, and he did not want to see anyone else being injured in what might very well be a twisted acceleration of the Pittman divorce war. This needed to end sooner rather than later. He needed this over with so he could get the information and resolve the situation in New York. If it hadn't been Sam, the deal would have been completely different. Nico didn't jump through hoops for anyone, and he didn't appreciate the delay. He had other ways of getting the information, of finding Sam's source if this fell through, and he would use it if necessary.

"Sam's idea was to have you meet with the guy that we need to bait," Westen began. He seemed to be the leader and the planner of the group, so he should have been the one to explain in the first place. "Do you think you can make him believe your employer is interested in... expansion, as it were?"

"People believe Marshall Pittman capable of anything," Nico answered, looking toward Sam. The other man didn't comment, which was unusual. He had an opinion about everything, especially about the Pittmans. "Which industry are you suggesting he expand into? Perhaps the drugs since he has access to transportation companies? Or would you think that with his media empire he'd want the pornography? You know... It's been rumored that Pittman has his hand in those things anyway."

"Exactly!" Sam finally snapped. He'd lasted longer than Nico expected. Maybe Westen was a good influence on him. A restraining one. "Which is why I don't know how you can work for that bastard, even if he did save your life. This isn't about Gabby, is it?"

Nico was starting to think it was time to go to his alternative source. It had to be easier than dealing with Axe. That was the trouble with old associates. They had a habit of knowing too much. "I swear, Sam, if you mention that name again—"

"Easy, easy," Westen broke in. Nico had a feeling he ended up playing peacemaker a lot. "We just need someone who can make it seem like a legitimate business is willing to front this guy's not-so-legitimate ones. You say Pittman has enough moral flexibility—"

"More like mental instability," Sam muttered, and Westen shot him a look. The man must spend a good portion of his time trying to keep Sam under control.

"Either one you choose, it's not unbelievable that he would be available, and his current circumstances would make the idea all the more appealing—and all the more dangerous," Nico began, thinking that the divorce could go either way for helping push the issue and making it convincing—or less believable. He'd have to play that card carefully, hold it in reserve if possible. "His wife has hired one of the top divorce lawyers in the country, and he will be looking into all of Pittman's assets and indiscretions."

"How's that working out for you, Nico?"

That was it. Nico reached for Sam's wrist and pulled it tight, twisting it around his back as he pulled the gun from the man's waistband with his other hand. "You've gotten sloppy in addition to fat, Axe. Do you really think you want to push my buttons right now?"

"Guys," Westen began, and Nico tossed the gun to him as he let Sam go. Sam started to straighten himself up, glaring at him across the table.

"This is so much fun," the woman commented, taking a sip of her drink. She really enjoyed the show. "Watching you boys... bond. Such a special moment. Thank you for including me."

Westen looked at her. She smiled back at him. Nico shook his head. He should never have taken the phone call in the first place. He knew better. Even when they'd worked together, Axe was nothing but trouble. Sam looked at him. "I never knew you were so touchy, Careles."

"I warned you not to go there," Nico reminded him coldly. He knew it was far too easy to provoke him these days. Sam had been aware of Nico's feelings for Gabriella for years, and he'd warned Nico to stay away from her, told him everything that he knew now. As much as she _thought _she loved him, she never had. Her manipulation—using Juliette's paternity as way to hold on to him all this time—he could never forgive her for that.

And it _did _hurt.

Nico was fairly close to punching Axe in the face just for being right. Perhaps later.

Sam reached for his beer, trying to salvage some of his dignity. "At least we know you haven't lost any of your skills."

Nico gave Axe a slight smile, and Westen shook his head. Glenanne laughed, almost spilling her drink as she did. "Oh, this is just not fair. I should call Maddie. I need another woman to talk to about this boys' club you've got going on."

"Fi, leave my mother out of this," Westen began. Nico knew a losing battle when he saw it, and he shook his head as he moved away, checking the messages on his phone. Sam went for another beer bottle and emptied it quickly. Though Nico knew from experience that Axe could handle almost anything when he'd been drinking, this was not a position that he wanted to be in. Sam was a liability. This was a mistake. Walking away now was the best option, and he knew it. He should leave.

Nico's phone rang, and he frowned as he reluctantly answered it. He was going to have to stop taking calls once this really got going, but for now he needed the connection back to New York, needed to stay informed. "What?"

"Nico, where are you?"

"Is that Pittman? I want to give him a piece of my mind," Sam said, jumping up and trying to take the phone from Nico. "Listen to me, you rotten, no good, selfish, arrogant rich bastard, you can go to hell. You twist around a man's life and loyalty, and you let your wife—"

Nico elbowed him, hard, in the stomach and pried the phone away from him, twisting his arm again until Westen and Glenanne pulled Sam off and forced him back across the room. Nico returned the phone to his ear. "You have my apologies, Dr. Santino. That man was under the impression I was talking to someone else."

"Marshall Pittman, maybe?"

He ignored her question. "Is there something you need?"

"Where _are _you? That sounds like... a beach," she began. He could almost hear her shaking her head on the other end of the line. "Never mind. That's not—oh, hell, Nico, did Pittman really fire you?"


	2. Initial Contact

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 2,930  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: I really enjoy the way that the two shows were able to connect and the interaction between all the characters. That's what makes crossovers fun. :)

* * *

><p><strong>Initial Contact<strong>

Dani looked up at the hospital and sighed. She'd gone outside to make the call, but leaving TK's side for even a minute seemed wrong. She knew that there was really nothing that she could do to help him, but she felt a need to be there. Everyone else had come and gone, even Vivica had been persuaded to go home at last, but Dani couldn't make herself leave.

She'd called the kids to tell them to stay with their father and go to school. Ray Jay was really worried about TK, and he'd come by after school, with Lindsay, but Dani had forced them both to go back to their father's after they'd spent some time with TK. She had stayed. She kept staying, even though she knew that she should go home. She remembered the way that TK had described himself in the beginning of their relationship, how it echoed what Ray had said about her, and she knew that she couldn't abandon him. She had to be there, at the hospital, by his side.

That was half the reason she was making the call. Someone's absence was more than a little glaring, in the light of the past forty-eight hours and in the wake of something she'd accidentally overheard at TK's side. At first it had been easy to assume that Nico was just gone making sure all of the details were in order to make sure that TK's shooter was put away, but now, given what she knew of the personal distress Nico had been under and what she'd heard, she wasn't so sure about that anymore.

_The impossible happened. No, not TK getting shot; that was bound to happen. I'm talking about Nico. Pittman _fired _him._

She pushed the button determinedly. It rang twice before he picked up.

"What?"

She could have said any number of things, but she'd settled on a simple enough question—one she still figured he wouldn't answer. "Nico, where are you?"

She had to hold the phone away from her ear as someone shouted. "Is that Pittman? I want to give him a piece of my mind. Listen to me, you rotten, no good, selfish, arrogant rich bastard, you can go to hell. You twist around a man's life and loyalty, and you let your wife—"

She heard sounds of a scuffle and then Nico apparently gained control of his phone again. "You have my apologies, Dr. Santino. That man was under the impression I was talking to someone else."

Yeah, she'd gathered that much. "Marshall Pittman, maybe?"

"Is there something you need?"

"Where _are _you?" she asked again. She could hear things in the background and she would swear, if it was anyone other than Nico... She shook her head. No way. Not him. " That sounds like... a beach. Never mind. That's not—oh, hell, Nico, did Pittman really fire you?"

"If you're asking if that is the reason why I am not present at the hospital with TK, the answer is no," Nico said, and she noticed that he did not really answer the question. "I told you before. I am looking into another angle."

She made a face. "What other angle could you possibly be investigating at a beach?"

"I am not on a beach."

"Right. And you're not standing there talking to someone who hates Marshall Pittman, either," she muttered. Damn the man, he was infuriating most of the time. "Nico, honestly. I am your friend. And your colleague. I think. That's if you didn't get fired because you didn't actually answer that question or tell me where you are, and I guess that's because you're trying not to lie like you pride yourself on, but if something is going on, you _can _talk to me. I know you said you couldn't compromise yourself, but after TK's shooting, you never said how that worked out for you. I heard someone say that Pittman let you go, and no one knows why. Except, I guess, for me, if what they're saying is true."

"I assure you, Dr. Santino, TK's shooting is my priority right now," Nico began. "Whatever it takes to resolve that issue, it will be done. This is what I do, not sit around at someone's bedside. That is your department. Let me know if anything changes with Terrence or if there are further developments regarding Bobby Caldwell's car accident."

"Wouldn't you already know them?" she demanded. Her only answer was a dial tone. She looked down at her phone and cursed it in every way she knew how, even in a few she hadn't known she knew. Then she cursed the man who'd been on the other end of the line.

By the time she was done, everyone around her was looking at her, and security was on their way over. She shook her head. The next time she saw Nico, she was going to kill him.

* * *

><p>"You sure you know what you need to do?"<p>

"I understand your hesitation in trusting your 'mission' to someone you don't know, but no amount of assurances from me or repetitions from you would change what you're feeling now," Nico said, and Micheal reluctantly agreed with him. He knew that Sam vouched for the man, and sometimes that was a good thing—sometimes it was not. Sam's friends could be dicey.

"Fine. Sam?"

"Got your transmitter right here, Nico," Sam said, holding up a small device. He moved close to Nico, trying to put the transmitter on him. The other man shook his head immediately.

"No way. You know I won't do that."

Sam tried to persuade him, and Nico backed up, falling into a defensive stance. "Come on. This is state of the art. No one's going to know you're wearing one of these. Most importantly, your target isn't going to know."

"_I'd _know. No, Sam. You know how I feel about those things."

"You're making this more difficult—"

"Sam, it's fine," Micheal said, looking over at Fi. She was smiling again, but then she seemed to enjoy seeing Sam squirm. "We can monitor the conversation from here, and we already know that this guy doesn't trust easily. Your friend's paranoia may help convince Hayes. That's what we want. We need him to agree to this so that we can get the information we need to stop him."

"Then we'll just have to make sure—" Sam let out a curse when he saw his friend was gone. "I hate when he does that."

Micheal smiled. He'd figured the man would steal away first chance he got, and he'd been right. Fiona laughed, reaching for her binoculars, trying to spot Careles again. Sam looked at her. "Sure, laugh now, but when we can't hear what he's telling Hayes because Nico carries a signal jammer with him constantly, you won't find it that funny."

Micheal looked at him. Sam should have mentioned that before now. Micheal didn't like it, but they'd have to adjust. They could make it work. They had to. Still, he almost felt like this confirmed his feeling about including Careles in this thing. He turned to Fi. "Get eyes on Hayes. We won't see Careles again until he does."

"If Hayes sees him at all," Sam agreed. Micheal looked over at him. "What? The guy is _that_ good. Frustrating, but good."

"Do we have anything, Fi?"

She passed him the scope and the headphones. Micheal looked through, watching Hayes as he walked through the crowd, a phone up to his ear. He ended the call and stopped to look to the side. Micheal frowned. It was to Careles' credit that not even they could see him from where he was—the meeting would never be proven by anyone, but at the same time, Micheal didn't like being unable to see his asset.

Sam's phone rang, and he answered it. Micheal gave him a look, motioning for him to move further away. They were getting little enough from Careles' conversation with Hayes—just Hayes' expression, and that didn't tell him much.

"What?" Sam demanded loudly, and Micheal shoved Fi toward him. She was going to have to take him away from here so that he wasn't distracting everyone. Without sound or visual, they were trusting everything on what Sam knew of the other man, and the longer this went on, the more Micheal was convinced that it wasn't going to work.

Of course, that was before he saw Hayes crack a smile at whatever Careles had just told him. He frowned. Maybe it was working. Maybe it wasn't. It was hard to say. He couldn't be sure. He'd ask Fi to get a second angle on this, but they'd picked the best location for observing Hayes before Careles went in. Most of the others would be too close, too open, too likely to get them spotted by Hayes or someone on his security staff and blow the whole meet.

"Oh, hell, Mike, we gotta pull him out of there," Sam said, coming back. Micheal looked at Fi, and she shrugged helplessly. He knew she could have stopped Sam if she'd really wanted to, but she hadn't. Whatever Sam was worried about, she apparently agreed with him.

"I think he might actually have pulled it off," Micheal said. "Now is the worst possible time to pull him out."

"We might have to scrap the whole thing," Sam said, looking to Fi. Micheal watched them, waiting for an answer. Someone had better have a good explanation for _that _one. This wasn't just some job they'd accidentally taken on or been blackmailed into or were getting paid for. This was much larger than them and could even be connected to his burn notice. They had a lot riding on it, and he was not about to back down.

"Why?" Micheal demanded. "If that meeting went well, then there's no reason to pull out."

"Not for us, Mike, but I know this guy. There's no way he's going to stay when he hears this."

"Hears what?"

* * *

><p>Nico made his way down and through the crowd to the location he'd already spotted before Westen asked his question. He trusted one source on intel when he went into a meeting like this, and it was his own. He knew Sam, more or less trusted him, but this involved staking his name, his life, and his reputation on it. It meant mortgaging the name of a man who had saved his life against potential criminal activity. He knew that Marshall was not always an honorable man, but the things that Sam had mentioned about Hayes were things that Nico would never have supported, no matter what Marshall had done for him. He was <em>not <em>involved in any of them.

He settled in his alcove and waited. Sam had probably informed the others about his signal jammer by now, and Nico was a bit disappointed that he'd missed their reactions, but he didn't need to see it every time.

He watched Hayes approach, arguing with someone on the end of the phone. Nico smiled a little. "You know, you really should have those conversations in private. You never know who's listening."

"Just deal with it," Hayes snapped, ending the call. He turned to Nico. "You have any idea who you're talking to?"

"A man who fails to take proper precautions despite his reputation. Your security detail lags too far behind you and you do not carry one of these," Nico said, holding up the signal jammer. "As I said, you never know who's listening."

"I'm still waiting for you to tell me who you are."

"You never asked, and you could have simply moved on," Nico reminded him. "Since you seem to be asking now... My name is Nico Careles. I represent someone who may be interested in a business partnership."

"Careles, huh? Never heard of you."

"Of course not. If you had, I couldn't do the job that I do, now could I?"

Hayes smiled at that. Nico had no doubt that the man actually had heard his name before. That was half the reason that he had drawn into this—the other half being his prior connection to Sam Axe—the fact that his name could open doors not available to Westen or any of his companions. "What are you offering?"

"You're the one who has been making discreet inquiries into the purchase of certain transportation companies. You do realize that in this particular market, it would be a considerable loss of money. Then again, you don't intend to make your money carrying the standard freight, now do you?"

"And how would you know so much?"

"It's my business to know a great many things," Nico said with a shrug. "Someone I know might be interested in an arrangement. However, I've taken enough of your time for now."

"That's it? You're not going to make any offers?"

"You're the one that will make the offer," Nico told him, turning to leave. He knew it was time to walk away. He had baited the hook, but it would be Hayes' choice to come back to him. That was the only way for this to happen. Hayes had to believe he had a choice, had to take the time to verify that Nico was who he said he was and weigh in Marshall Pittman's erratic nature in an attempt to be sure that Nico wasn't trying to trap him.

If Nico was lucky, Hayes wouldn't figure out that he really was. He walked away, circling around, making sure that he had not been spotted by the criminal's security detail before he returned to Axe, Westen, and Glenanne. They were still where he had left them, but they were clearly agitated.

Sam was speaking when Nico drew close. "... There's no way he's going to stay when he hears this."

"Hears what?" Nico asked, coming up to them. They turned and looked at him. They should have heard him coming. He was good, but the fact that he kept slipping past the notice of a former SEAL, a spy, and IRA terrorist was not as comforting as it should have been. He was not infallible. They should have heard something, been alert to his presence. "I should tell you that I think he bought it. He'll be in touch."

Westen folded his arms over his chest. "Really?"

"I can't guarantee that he'll call, no. I can give you impression of the conversation, and as I said, I think he is interested and believes at least part of what I told him. I have upheld my part of the bargain. Now, what are you keeping from me?"

Sam looked very guilty. Glenanne elbowed him. He sighed. "Okay, okay. Damn, you're a violent woman. Thing is, I got a call from a buddy of mine—doesn't matter who, don't ask for the name—and they told me there's a list. Two names have been crossed off."

"Terrence King and Bobby Caldwell," Nico agreed immediately. He would have expected those names to be there. "You're still not telling me anything I don't know."

"Yeah, but there's another name on the list. One... I heard you mention a couple of times now."

Nico looked at him coldly. This had better not be what he thought it was. No matter which way this went, it wouldn't be good. "You're not just saying that because it's the only name you've overheard?"

"Nico, I know you're paranoid, but if you think back, you never once said that the doctor's name was _Danielle _Santino. You never said she had two kids—"

"So help me, Sam, if you looked her up just to—"

"The threat is real," Sam interrupted, looking to Glenanne, who nodded. "You can go back to New York, make sure she's safe. I mean it, buddy. Go. This can wait. She's got kids."

Nico nodded, starting to leave. He had to get someone on protecting Santino and her children immediately. There was no other option.

"Or you could make her another target," Westen called after him. He stopped to look back at him. Glenanne and Sam had turned to him as well. "Hayes is going to look into who you are and what you've said, and going to her could put her in further danger. You leaving now, when you've spoken to him, when you've baited him... He could choose to retaliate, and if he does, she could be a target."

"So I stay here," Nico began, thinking aloud. He shook his head. "If someone is close enough to get to more than one of my people, my organization has been compromised. I cannot trust my own staff to protect her. Staying here is _not _an option."

"I'll go," Glenanne said immediately. The others looked at her. "Relax. I won't blow anything up, but I'm more likely to be the one that a woman would trust. Micheal can't leave Miami without attracting a lot of unwanted attention. Sam... Well, he'd try one pick up like on her and end up blowing any chance of protecting her because he's... Sam."

"Hey, I resent that. Lots of women find me very attractive."

"Santino would not only see past your bullshit, she'd make you pay for it," Nico said. He looked Glenanne over. She wasn't an ideal choice, certainly not his first, but he knew how dangerous she could be. "I'm going to regret this, but... go. Get her and her children out of New York. And you, Sam, you are going to give me the name of that source. Now."


	3. First Impressions

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 3,177  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: It's so much fun rewatching shows to get details right. Of course, then sometimes you realize that the reason an actress was vaguely familiar and yet you never placed her was because she had a small part on another show you watched and then it wants to derail a story that's already written. Fortunately for me, though, Callie Thorne's role on Burn Notice actually worked with something I was already planning on doing, so I was able to weave it in with a few little changes that actually improve my plot.

And I may have gotten a little carried away with Fi manipulating Matt. Oops?

* * *

><p><strong>First Impressions<strong>

"I really don't know why I let you talk me into going out tonight," Dani began, looking at Matt. He looked good, but then he always did. She felt about as rundown as her first car had been, a dangerous crate on wheels that was lucky to move at all. It had been such a long week, and TK still hadn't woken up. The kids didn't want to be in school, and every morning she had to fight with them. Her office-now located in TK's hospital room-was a nonstop hub of activity. She saw players, staff, and Vivica, all of them shaken by what happened to TK. They wanted reassurance and answers, and Dani could only try to given them the first one. Answers should have come from Nico, but he remained off the grid and people had started taking this as confirmation that he had been fired.

"Everyone needs a break, Dani," Matt told her with a smile, touching her hand. "You have been working overtime with everything that's going on, and me... Everyone keeps looking to me for answers and advice—leadership. They want a leader, and it's a lot of pressure. Coach Parnell has his hands full, and without Nico... Let's just say I need to kick back and chill for a while. So do you."

She forced a smile. What he said made sense, but she still felt like she had no business being out with all that was going on. She could be at home drinking this wine, and she should be.

"Let me get you a refill," Matt told her, going up to the bar. She started to call after him not to bother, but he was already lost in the crowd.

Dani looked at her phone. She should go. It was already late enough.

"That bastard broke my shoe," a woman said, leaning against Dani's table. She took off her shoe and held it up, moaning as she looked at the snapped heel. "I bet he doesn't even care how expensive these babies are."

"I am sure that he doesn't," Dani agreed, looking at the ruined designer shoe. She had never owned a pair of those herself, and that was how she knew they were pricey. They cost at least twice what she'd paid for the shoes she'd traded her ring for. "What happened?"

"A man," the other woman answered, rolling her eyes. "What else?"

Dani smiled. She knew how that felt, even though right now things with Matt were... good, as good as they could be with TK in the hospital and everything that came with that, including Nico having dropped off the face of the earth. "It's usually that, isn't it? Please, sit. Maybe we can fix your shoe so you can walk out, at least. I'm Dani."

"Call me Anne," the other woman told her, flipping back some of her dark hair. She seemed to be waiting for something from Dani, but Dani had no idea what that was.

"Here you go, Dani," Matt said, putting another wine in front of her. He caught sight of the new woman, taking her in. His eyes didn't miss the low cut of her dress, the missing bra, or the legs. Every part of Anne was meant to draw attention to her, but Dani couldn't help wanting to smack him for it anyway. "Oh, hey. You found a friend."

Anne gave Matt a dark look for a second and then plastered a smile on her face. "I didn't know you had a date. I'm sorry I interrupted. I don't want to intrude. It was just... my shoe. My date broke it. I got upset. I complained, Dani offered me a chair. It was just a thing; I can go—"

"Don't go. I didn't mean to chase you off," Matt said, sitting down. "I'm Matt. Should I find your date, give him some trouble for breaking your shoe? Maybe there's something I can do to fix it. I helped Dani out the first time we met, though that was a pinched nerve, not a shoe."

"You're a doctor?"

"A trainer. I work with the Hawks."

"You do? Then you must know the guy that got shot."

"He's a friend of ours, yeah."

"That is so awful," Anne said, leaning her head on her hand. She was really starting to grate on Dani's nerves. Didn't Matt realize how blatantly this woman was flirting with him? And that he needed to stop encouraging it when they were on a date? "I'm sorry. It's such a shock. Who would do something like that?"

"We don't know. A deranged fan, apparently, but it's so unbelievable. It's been crazy. Wait. You're not a reporter, are you?"

Dani gave him a look. He was just thinking of that _now? _She needed to get Anne away from the table or just leave. She was tired of this. Matt's plan of relaxing had almost worked until the other woman showed up. Dani had liked her until she started flirting up _Dani's _date.

"I'm not. I'm... kind of in between jobs at the moment."

Dani frowned. Was this woman... a hooker?

"Why don't you tell us what you do? Maybe there's an opening we can help you with."

Dani kicked Matt under the table, and he finally looked back at her. She gave him a pointed look and then directed one to Anne. He gave her a shrug, and she wanted to smack him again because he clearly didn't see that any of this was a problem. He probably thought it was all friendly. It wasn't.

"Well, now, you're a thoughtful one, aren't you? Would you be so kind as to get me a bloody Mary?" Anne asked and then handed him a bill. "Tip big and get everyone another while you're at it. Thanks so much."

Matt frowned, but he smiled anyway and went back to the bar. Dani turned to the other woman, forcing a smile as she prepared to get the woman the hell away from both of them. "Uh, Anne—"

"I suppose he's cute—and look at the muscles, he does have them—but I prefer the strong silent type," Anne said, rolling her eyes. She picked up her bag and started digging through it.

"Yeah, uh, I had one of those in my life. He was always sneaking up on me. Pissed me off."

Anne smiled. "That's when you start making it a game. See if you can sneak up on him. The best part is that, as women, we don't have to limit ourselves on how we sneak."

Dani had never thought of it like that. She almost liked the other woman again, and she wouldn't mind using the woman's tips against Nico. One problem with that, though. "Well, it would seem that my strong and silent one is out of my life."

"They're never really out of your life, Doctor Santino."

Dani stared at her. "How did you know—Nico. Nico sent you, didn't he? What is going on?"

"I can't explain now," Anne—and now Dani really doubted that was her name because she didn't act like an _Anne_—took out a shoe and put it on. "I'm sorry. I always hated when Michael told me that, but what you really need to know now is that you have to leave, right now."

Unbelievable. Now this woman wanted her to _trust _her? Just like that? Dani was still pissed at Nico, and she was not inclined to accept anything on blind faith or even what fragile trust she thought she and Nico shared. "If Nico sent you to get me, then he should have told you there was no way that I would blindly accept what you told me."

"Oh, I was warned," the other woman agreed, holding out a folded dollar bill. On it, in Nico's careful handwriting, he'd put four words: _you don't need a therapist_. As paranoid as he'd been that day, and the time before, when he showed up at her house, there was no way someone else knew about that. It was Nico who had sent this woman. But why? To cause problems between her and Matt? She knew Nico didn't exactly approve, but he had to have bigger things on his mind right now.

"What—"

"Come with me. Now. We have to get you and your children out of New York. Immediately."

Dani froze. What was going on? Why did she have to go, and what—_who _was threatening her children? She was going to kill them. She took a deep breath. "And Matt?"

"He's not a target. You are."

* * *

><p>"Calm down, Nico. Fiona can handle this."<p>

"Ms. Glenanne is not the unpredictable variable in the equation," Nico said, and Micheal watched him as he paced. This operation hinged on Careles being able to pull off his role—one that Micheal usually filled himself and admittedly didn't like trusting to someone else—and his head wasn't really in the game. "Dr. Santino is. She tends to be stubborn, and if someone did something to her family... I have someone looking after her mother, someone I brought in from the outside who owes me a favor, but the ex-husband could become a problem with the children being removed. Then there's Donnally. Another complication in her life."

"Relax, buddy, we've got this," Sam said, trying to pass Nico a beer. Careles shook his head. "Hayes will call, and we'll get him to give us the information we need, get you home to New York."

Michael looked at him. "In the meantime, maybe we can help you with the situation."

Nico turned to him. "I thought the information you gave me was the end of it."

"It doesn't have to be," Micheal told him. The thing was, unless they got Nico back in the game, it couldn't be the end of it. His focus needed to be here, on Hayes. Not in New York. "Tell me, why would anyone assemble this list of targets? The first is a loud-mouthed receiver. The second a quarterback. Why a doctor? did she treat them? Is she able to say there's something suspicious about their injuries?"

"She's a therapist. She has helped both men, but that's not why she's a target," Nico said, thinking aloud. He rubbed his forehead. "She's an impact player. A lot of people believe that she's the reason the Hawks made it to the playoffs this year. More than that, though, that woman has become the heart of the team. TK is the visible face of it. Bobby Caldwell is the quarterback, the leader on the field. This is an attack on the foundation of this team. Someone wants the Hawks destroyed."

Sounded plausible, but the question that everyone had to ask now was _why. _"What is so special about this team? Why target them? You said they made the playoffs, but that happens plenty without someone attacking players and staff."

"My money's on Gabby," Sam said immediately. Micheal wondered exactly what his beef with this woman was. He clearly hated her. Careles—Micheal didn't have a read on him yet. "She knows she can't get them in the divorce, so she's destroying them."

Nico glared at Sam. "Gabriella _is_ a manipulative woman—"

"A bitch."

"—But she's not a killer," Nico disagreed, shaking his head. Not that Micheal really wanted to know, but he was going to have to find out what exactly this history was and which one of them had the right idea about this 'Gabriella.'

"She's killed your soul, Nico. That's not enough for you?"

"Boys," Micheal began before the two of them could go at it again. "There is no need to fight about this. We have the statement from Sam's source. We have your information on the team. You both have knowledge of the people involved in this divorce but a clear bias there. You two will stay away from that angle. I will deal with that. I want you two to find someone _else _who could have done this. Disgruntled fan, angry business associate, any of the normal suspects... I think you know the drill."

"Yeah, Mike, we do. Nico, anyone come to mind when you think of it that way?"

"That's not a small list. Marshall has a habit of pissing people off. Teams do poorly from time to time. Someone who didn't have personal experience with the Hawks' mascot in his recent resurfacing might blame him for it since they blamed their 'curse' on him before. And most of the people you would suspect are states away. Here our hands are effectively tied."

"We are working to untie them."

"Don't patronize me. You want me thinking about Hayes and not the team or the safety of the assets that I have been entrusted with," Nico said. "You're not after Hayes for the drugs, the pornography, or the prostitution. This is about your burn notice. I would probably only be one of several people to tell you just to forget about it and enjoy the freedom, but you're the type that can't let go. If Hayes even has the information you want, you won't get it playing this game, but then again, I've been out for so long I don't know how it's played anymore. Do I, Sam?"

"I don't know, Nico. I don't think you've lost your edge."

"That's where we disagree," Nico said, going to the door. He stopped just before leaving the room. "I do."

* * *

><p>"Michael."<p>

"Good to hear your voice, Fi. I'm hoping that what you have for us is equally good news."

Fiona glanced at the children, who were torn between enjoying the fact that they were out of school and pissed that they were cut off from the friends, family, and phones and then at their mother, who was torn between anger and fear. "That really depends on who you ask, Michael. I have what I was sent for, and it's undamaged, but its expression is angry and someone seemed to think it belonged in a pair."

"I take it this was someone other than the one we know?"

"Oh, yeah, the type a lot of people waste a lot of good years on because they don't realize that the body is all there is. He's sweet, I suppose, but I played him, and he never even noticed," Fiona said, shaking her head. She wasn't sure why that man didn't realize that the flirting was an act—or why he hadn't tried to make more of effort to stop it since he was apparently on a date. "Sam could have handled him."

"Fi—"

"What can I say?" she asked, shrugging. "I guess the romantic in me wanted more."

"From a man like Careles?"

"See, I knew I wasn't the only one who saw it," Fiona said with a smile. She would have expected Micheal to ignore the little hints that Nico was giving away, but he hadn't. Interesting. If only the clearly retired and almost settled Nico couldn't help show him that there was more to life than being a spy. "But actually, I meant her. She's a smart woman, right? Why is she with this loser?"

"Whatever their romantic entanglements, they're not our concern. We are not matchmakers. Just get her and the kids here as soon as you can."

"There's something else, Micheal."

"Fi, we really don't have time for—"

"Make time. Our girl here bears any extremely strong resemblance to a woman who tried to kill me once. Acts a bit different, thought the kids could be a part of her cover, like last time. They seem genuine enough, but if they're working with her, they'd have to be good."

"Sam's friend didn't strike me as someone it was easy to fool."

"For all of our sakes, I hope so, but you better see if someone can dig up a location on Natalie Rice—fast," Fiona agreed, giving the woman across the plane another look. She liked Dani—but she'd liked Natalie right up until Micheal told her that she was a cold-blooded killer. This time the kids were definitely real, and she'd gotten no sense that Dani recognized her at all, but Natalie would have been on her guard and ready for anything. It was hard to be certain.

"Be careful, Fi."

"Always."

He hung up, and Fiona shook her head as she went back to join Dani again. She sat down next to the other woman warily. The plane was not the most comfortable of ride, but without time to fake the right papers, she'd improvised. "We'll be there shortly."

Dani had given up on asking where they were going a while back. She was used to this—if she wasn't Natalie, then it must have been Careles' doing. Working with spies and special forces types tended to make a person accept that sometimes they weren't going to get any answers. "Do you travel by cargo plane a lot?"

Fiona couldn't help the smirk. "Only when I've got something to hide."

"What is really going on?" Dani demanded, getting angry again. Fiona was reminded of Natalie again. She really hoped that Dani wasn't her, for the kids' sake. "Why am I a target, and where is Nico? Why didn't he come himself? How do you know him? You're not his girlfriend, so..."

Fi was going to enjoy this. She really was. Natalie or not, she would. "You're curious about his love life?"

"No," Dani protested immediately, shaking her head. She leaned against the side of the plane and sighed. "I really don't need to know more than I already do."

"Okay, though I have to admit, he's more my type," Fiona went on. It was true. Careles was a lot like Micheal, and she would always be a sucker for Micheal Westen. "Tall, dark. Stoic. Deeply troubled. The last woman in his life did a real number on him, and he could use some... fixing."

Dani seemed uncomfortable with the conversation. She didn't back down, and she was not scared or intimidated, refused to be baited. "What about Michael?"

"Oh, you know how it is with these on-again-off-again things. We're off, so I can play with whomever I want."

"Don't play with Nico."

Fiona smiled. That was what she wanted to hear, and exactly the way she wanted to hear it. "I have no idea why you're a target. An associate of ours had information that said the shooting was no random act. Nico agreed to the terms, and he's in the middle of something he can't walk away from. So I came instead."

"You all do that, don't you?" Dani asked, shaking her head. "What _is _it with you people and refusing to give one single straight answer? Who is the associate? What are the terms? Why can't he walk away? Who teaches all of you to speak _vague?"_

Fi laughed. She'd wondered about that herself. Someone had to have taught Micheal and Nico to speak the way they did. "I'm Fiona, by the way. Hold onto something. We're about to land."


	4. Further Introductions

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 4,206  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: One thing about writing a story and then going back and dividing it up... It doesn't necessarily break up as neatly as originally thought. And I looked at this section this morning and went, oops, that scene belonged in the last chapter. Or it did. It's here now because the last chapter was already posted. Oh, well. It just makes this one a bit longer. That's okay.

* * *

><p><strong>Further Introductions<strong>

"Doctor Santino. Good to meet you," Mike greeted her as she walked off the ramp. Sam got a load of her, and he had to admit, he was tempted to make a move. That was one hell of a beautiful woman. She was tired and worn out from the plane ride, a bit dirty, even, but she still carried herself well and met Mike toe-to-toe. It was a shame, really, but she was off-limits. Sam was going to have to keep his distance. Especially since Mike said Fiona might know her—they all might, but she wasn't that familiar to Sam. He hadn't had much personal contact with Natalie.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to do his best to shove a certain long time friend in this woman's path. Let Nico fall under the bus this time.

Santino looked at Fiona and then at Mike. "You're Michael."

He looked at Fiona. She shrugged. Someone had let something slip. Maybe she was Natalie after all. Either that or the doctor was good. Maybe she could help Fiona be a bit less... psychotic. Santino studied Sam. "I don't know your name. Where is Nico?"

Sam passed her another dollar bill. Nico had given one to him and one to Fiona, each with half of a message. Judging from the look on her face, she had gotten the other from Fiona and knew exactly what it meant. "He can't be seen with us right now, but we'll get you to him soon, promise. He's fine. I'd say he was sitting at the bar drinking mojitos, but—"

"That's not Nico."

Sam nodded. Nico was like Mike, didn't drink much. Always thinking of the tactical situation and trying to keep his head clear for whatever might come. Sam's always been of the opinion that observing goes better with a drink or two, but Mike never seemed to agree. He was always taking Sam away from his latest beer all in the name of work.

"We're gonna be able to go to the beach, right?" the girl asked, running a hand through her hair and making a face. She blinked up at the early morning sun. "We get dragged off in the middle of the night without explanation and brought here, so we better at least get _that."_

"This is why I hate Miami," Mike muttered, starting to walk away. "Protecting anyone here is more trouble than it's worth."

"God, this sucks," the girl said, shaking her head. "We're in Miami and we're going to be stuck inside, I just know it. Ray Jay will be fine, since he could play his games all day long, but those people took our phones. I can't call Winter. I can't do anything here. And we won't get to see the beach."

"We'll get you to the beach before you leave Miami, I promise," Fiona said, putting an arm around the girl and leading her forward, out of the exposed area of the hanger. They needed to get them inside, in where they were protected. And where they'd be Nico's problem again.

He wanted them to be Nico's problem. Natalie had done a number on Fiona, and by extension on Mike, so she should definitely be Nico's problem, if that was her. Not that Sam thought the man had any shortage of problems, especially not in the middle of one of Mike's search-to-the-end-of-the-earth-for-the-people-who-burned-me projects. Those were dangerous. Mike tended to get huge blinders on when he was chasing that damn thing. Sam wouldn't have wanted to put a friend in that position, but he knew that only Nico could pull off what they needed, and he wanted this burn notice thing done once and for all.

"How was the flight?"

Santino stopped, turning around and shaking her head at the shadow in the corner of the building. Nico had found a blind spot and exploited it, like always. Sam had kind of figured he'd be here. Santino walked toward him. "I don't know if I should hug you or slap you, Nico."

He smiled slightly. "It is good to see you, too, Doctor Santino."

She made a decision, stepping into the shadows and wrapping her arms around Nico. She sounded tired, finally letting it slip. "I expect answers. Now. After that plane ride and this cloak and dagger crap and you not answering my calls and dragging me and my kids to Miami, the least you owe me is answers."

"I'm not sure I can answer the questions you have," Nico told her, pushing her back gently. Sam tried not to wince. Nico had better not be involved with Natalie, but he had a bad habit of falling for the wrong type of women. "Go with the others. I'll meet up with you later."

"Why were you here then?"

"Making sure my assets arrived in good condition."

* * *

><p>"Here is where you will be staying, for now, at least. No one knows that you're in Miami, and that is how this is going to stay," the one called Micheal explained, letting them into the house. He looked around, giving a nod to the older man and woman who stood as they walked in. More people Dani didn't know that she was supposed to trust. She really hoped that Nico was right about these people. "There will be no calls. No internet. No contact with anyone in New York. This is not negotiable. We don't know who targeted you or why. If you are going to stay alive, you will do what we say. Keep your head down, stay inside, stay alive."<p>

Lindsay looked around the house. "This sucks."

Dani didn't think the house was all that bad. It might have been in the same family for decades and showed it in the decorations and some of the furniture, but it was kind of cute, too. Almost cozy. And better than a hotel.

"Yes, it does, but it's better than the alternative," Micheal went on, leaving no doubt that the alternative he was talking about was _death._ "Look, right now no one knows where you are. That means that you have some leeway. You may be able to leave here for short periods, but you have to go with an escort. That is Sam, Fiona, or me. You will be staying here with Madeleine and Virgil, but the rule still stands. You don't leave without one of us."

Lindsay made a face. "This _really_ sucks."

Dani rolled her eyes. Her daughter was not making this situation any easier. Of course, she didn't feel there was a threat yet. She just thought it was all one big inconvenience. Dani didn't want to believe that their lives were really in danger, but she didn't think that Nico would have pulled them out of New York for no reason.

In unison, the three of them pulled out their weapons and faced behind them. Nico held up his hands. They lowered their guns, relaxing slightly. "Better. You heard me this time. Still, the perimeter needs work and your choice of bodyguard fails to inspire confidence. Virgil? Really? I knew you were burned. I didn't realize you were desperate."

"Virgil is a very nice man," Madeleine objected, not at all phased by the gun drawing or surprise entrance. She was about the only one. Lindsay had actually ducked her head against Dani's chest, and Ray Jay grabbed her arm. Dani had wanted to pull them both under some kind of cover, but they were in the middle of the room. Nico—he not only had some explaining to do, but he owed her _big _for all of this.

"Niceness has nothing to do with it," Nico said, taking up a position against the wall. "I don't doubt that the man is nice. I just refuse to work with him because he's incompetent."

"Easy now, Nico," Sam began, holding up a hand to silence the older man. "I know you and Virgil have never gotten along, but you know how I feel about the guy. He's a friend. A good one. I owe him. And he can handle this. We've worked with him before."

"Sam, I appreciate your loyalty, but it's not mine. He almost got me killed. That's different."

"Why don't you stop worrying about me and start thinking about who you might have pissed off to put that woman and her children in danger?"

Nico shook his head. He took an envelope out of his pocket and tossed it to Fiona. "Take the children out. Get them basic supplies and entertainment for the duration of their stay. That should be more than enough to cover it and anything that might catch your eye."

"Oh, I like you," Fiona said, flipping through the envelope and looking up with a grin. "It's so nice not to be on a budget for a change. Come, kiddies. I know the best shops in Miami. Trust me."

Dani reluctantly let go of Lindsay, and her kids exchanged a look as they followed Fiona out nervously. Madeleine shook her head, giving Micheal, Nico, and Sam all a dark look as she took out a cigarette and lit it, joining Fiona and Virgil with the kids. Dani shook her head, turning back to Nico. Who the hell were these people they were trusting their lives to?

Nico looked at her and then at Sam. "The only people I've pissed off lately both have the same last name and neither of them would want the team to go under. They both want it, and contrary to what you might think, Marshall is not vindictive enough to put his team into the ground just to spite her. And she is interested in the money. Neither of them wants the team destroyed. This is _not _about me. If someone was coming after me, they'd do it in another way. Attacking my assets might be a sign of psychological warfare, but they would not go after TK. They would have found something more personal. I don't feel like a target—and that would be half the point. This is someone who has a strong anger toward the team itself."

"So... why me?" Dani asked, and they looked over at her. She wondered if some of them had expected her to go with her kids. She might have, but she wanted answers, needed to understand why all of this was happening. "Why am I a target?"

"Many people attribute TK's success and the team's, too, on your involvement with them," Nico began. "More than that, though, you've stepped into a role traditionally believed to be the quarterback's. The heart of the team."

"I did? When did I do that?"

Nico smiled a little. He turned to Micheal. "I actually came because Hayes made contact. He wants to meet. In a little less than an hour."

"You're just telling us this _now?" _Sam demanded. Dani wanted to laugh. This was so typical of Nico."What about scouting the location? About advance preparation? Doing something to counter the fact that you're a raging paranoid who won't let anyone listen in to his conversations?"

Nico shrugged. "You wanted my help. That means my terms."

* * *

><p>"What exactly is Nico doing for you?"<p>

Micheal looked over at the woman. Why was she still here? She was... a client, at the most. She was someone who needed protection. That was, if this wasn't another clever cover identity for Natalie Rice. Either way, she was not supposed to be here, not now. He'd prefer it if Fi was back from her spree with the children and they were all inside the house, properly protected. They'd done their best to make sure that his mother's house had been made secure—though they'd need to go over it again because Careles managed to get past the perimeter, and if he could do it, someone else could.

"You're supposed to be with the others."

"Nico should have warned you about me," she said, smiling tightly. "I don't back down, and since no one has been able to answer to _my _satisfaction why I am a target, why my family was dragged down here to Miami, or what the rest of you are up to. Who is Hayes? Is he the man who came after my family? Is that why Nico is... meeting with him?"

"That's our end of it. Hayes is our problem. We just needed a face that Hayes wouldn't recognize, and that was my buddy Nico," Sam told her. She looked over at him, shaking her head.

"Nico doesn't have buddies."

"You know him that well, do you?" Micheal asked, turning to her. She stared back at him, unable to answer. There. She had her doubts about Careles. It would be easy enough to exploit them, to push a wedge between her and her protector. Micheal thought about it for a moment. He could do it. But it would probably end up causing them more problems.

"Mike, over here," Sam called. "He's in play again."

"Do we have any sort of audio this time? Anything?" Micheal asked, taking the binoculars from Sam and looking down where he'd pointed. Again, Hayes was visible. Careles was not. The man was good at keeping out of sight, but the way he kept all of them out of it grated on Micheal's nerves. Careles was a man used to working alone—and it showed. Why hadn't the people that burned him gone after Careles instead? Or had they? Careles had never _said _he was a spy, he'd never admitted any agency involvement, but that didn't mean anything. It could have been the training, could have been the work he'd done after he left the Navy, but Careles acted a bit more like a paranoid spy than a simple ex-special forces man.

A part of Micheal wondered if someone had tried to burn Careles years ago. If this life he had now was what he settled into afterward. It would fit, given what little he knew of the man.

"He didn't turn off the jammer, so we got a bit screwed again. I'm sorry, Mike, I know you hate that, but trying to change Nico's mind is like trying to stop the _Titanic."_

"The _Titanic _sank, Sam," Micheal reminded him. "What your friend seems determined to forget is that we can't help him if we don't know what's going on in that conversation."

He heard something behind him and pulled out his gun, pulling the woman behind him and turning around. Sam had done the same, cursing loudly as he saw who it was.

"If something had gone wrong, no amount of your help could have fixed it. It would only have confirmed that I was working with you and completely blown the objective," Careles said. Micheal lowered his gun, watching Sam put his behind his back again. "Perhaps we should arrange for some kind of signal, since I'm not fond of having guns pointed on me every single time I walk up to someone. The paranoia is understandable, but that doesn't mean I like it. I _do _prefer it over arriving completely undetected, though. The three of you are better than that—or you should be."

"We are," Sam said. "You gotta stop sneaking up on us, though."

"Let him, Sam. It keeps us on our toes," Micheal disagreed. He looked at the other man. "What did you find out?"

Careles glanced toward Santino. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I tried—again—to get answers, and since the rest of your security team left with my children, they had to bring me along here. Oops?" she asked, smiling with ill-concealed annoyance. "What the _hell _is going on here, Nico?"

"What I have to discuss with Westen and Sam has nothing to do with the team or the threat on you. You do not need to be involved in it."

"But you are."

"By my choice and mine alone. I had you brought to Miami because I don't know who can be trusted in New York, that's all. You are safer where no one knows who you are or why you're here—including you," Careles told her, moving closer to her as he spoke. Finally, he touched her arm. His relationship with Santino could be a problem—if Santino was Rice. "I know that none of this is easy, and that you have more questions than anyone will be willing to answer, but I will do everything I can to make sure that you and your family are safe."

She nodded. "I know, Nico. In spite of everything, I _do _trust you. So... I suppose now you expect me to put my fingers in my ears and start humming?"

"If you like," Careles said, shrugging a little as he stepped away from her again. He moved back to where Sam and Micheal stood. "Loyalty test."

"He's fast."

"I don't think he likes that he can't pin me down. He also doesn't like the situation brewing back in New York. He wants this thing set before the fallout happens," Careles explained. He glanced toward the woman again. "Honestly... back off. Now. Let Hayes go."

"That bad, huh?" Sam asked, and Micheal shot him a look. "Dude, Mike, I know how bad we want this guy, but if Nico says back off, he's not kidding around. That is _not _a man who knows fear. You should have seen him back in—"

"Sam," Micheal interrupted before Sam's war stories reached ears they shouldn't and before they lost track of what was really important here. He turned back to Careles. "What about you? You did all of this without a cover. You back out now, and he will go after you."

"Arguably, the situation back in New York could give me every reason to pull out," Careles shrugged dismissively. "If I didn't have a way out, I would never have agreed to it, Westen. I'm not a fool. People like me always have a way out. In my case, more than one."

"What does he want you to do?"

"Does it really matter, Mike? Whatever it is, it's off if Nico says it is."

"He said we don't want to do it. I want to know why. What is the test?"

"He wants transportation," Careles answered, giving Santino another look before addressing Micheal again. "For human cargo."

* * *

><p>"We can't sit back and let him take these people <em>anywhere," <em>Fiona snapped. She saw Micheal about to argue with her and shook her head. "I. Don't. Care. Who. It. Burns. Careles already said he had a way out. We get the time and location, we get those people, and we set them free. You know what this is, Micheal. It's girls. Probably about the same age as Dani's girl. I just spent all day with her, and I am not going to serve _anyone _up to those pigs, do you understand me? We are getting those people."

"Mike, I gotta say, I'm with Fiona on this. And you know how much it hurts to admit that."

Micheal sighed. Fiona knew how much he wanted this—it was about his burn notice, and everything came second to that. He would do _anything _to get that taken care of. He didn't care who he hurt along the way. She was proof enough of that. His work with Strickler, too. That bastard. Micheal had trusted him, and that was not going to happen again.

"There is another option," Careles began, rubbing the back of his neck. The fatigue was starting to show on the man in the coat. Little things, mostly, but he was probably running on fumes right now.

Dani frowned at him. "Nico, when was the last time you slept?"

"I'm fine. You should be at the house with your children."

"Yeah, your little efforts to keep me out of this? Not going to work. Just tell them what this other option is because I agree with Fiona. You _can't _let that man exploit people like that. Especially not girls like my Lindsay. I swear, I'll go up and stop him myself if you don't."

Careles gave her a dark look. "You would never get close to him. Don't even think about doing that. Westen, I assume you know what I mean, but since your resources seem to be limited, I'm not sure how much of an option it really is."

"Enough with the vague. It is really starting to piss me off," Dani said, pointing a finger at him. "This is not a time for vagueness. Screw keeping me safe with plausible deniability or whatever bullshit reason you have for this. I'm involved. I'm not going away. My safety—and the safety of my children—is in your hands and you are in the middle of trying to get yourself killed. I'm concerned. Just a little."

"You know, she really _does _remind me of someone," Sam began, looking over at Micheal. They were all having the same thought, but it was a bad one. It was not going to work. Not going to happen.

Fiona shook her head. "No. Not her. We are not going there."

"Not going where?" Dani asked, looking around at them. "What woman? Who is it I remind you of, anyway? And why do you hate her so much?"

"A thief. Natalie Rice, to be specific," Careles said, and they turned to him in shock. He shrugged. "I had to make sure that Doctor Santino was who she said she was and not someone looking to use Donnally's bed to get at the Hawks organization for whatever purpose it might have been. Her resemblance to Rice is uncanny, but you will _not _use her for this operation, are we clear?"

"You _what?" _Dani asked, looking over at him, stung. She moved away from him. "You thought I was what, a _hooker? _That I slept with Matt so that I could get at money or team secrets? Really? You _bastard."_

Careles looked at her, not backing down, though Fiona knew it was going to take a lot to repair this damage. Then again, if Dani got the job because of the empty headed but possibly good-hearted man back in New York, then she probably deserved a bit of that. "I am thorough. Nothing more. Nothing less. The circumstances of you coming to be employed by the Hawks were of your own making, not mine."

"Time out before the two of you start going at it," Sam said, moving over in between them. That was a dangerous position. Fiona would probably have put her money on Dani at this point. Nothing like a woman scorned. "This isn't going to help anything."

"Rice's reputation for being a little... unhinged would come in handy," Micheal began, and Fiona looked at him. He had to be kidding. He'd involved his mother in a few of his schemes, and his brother, but they at least knew how to manipulate. Dani was a therapist. She had no idea what this life was like. She was not going to be up for it. Unless she really _was _Rice, which was almost impossible, she could _not _do this. She didn't even know how to hold a gun.

"Not happening, Micheal," Fiona insisted. She was all for letting a woman do a woman's job, but they didn't know that she could. If she was Rice, maybe, but then none of them could trust her, and that left them in pretty much the same position. "Let it go."

"All right, Fi. Who do you suggest we ask?" Michael began, and she cursed him, hating him for being unwilling to let this go. Fiona wanted those people rescued, but at what cost? "Virgil? Nate? Someone who won't have anything to do with me because of the black list?"

"Well, there would have been someone," Sam said, frowning a little as he looked at Careles, and the other man shook his head. "But that's not an option now."

"I'll do it."

"Excuse me?"

Dani glared at Careles. "Whatever it is, whatever it takes to get me ready to do it, I will. I am _not _going to sit around here and wait for you to save the day. I want my children safe, and if that means getting you out of whatever mess you got yourself into, then I'll do it. I didn't ask for _any _of this, and you put me in this position, Nico, so you can blame yourself if you like, but I am not going to be left out or bullied or taken somewhere else and hidden. I am just as capable as anyone of fighting for what I care about. You were not the one that sat beside TK at the hospital. You didn't comfort Vivica as she thought she would lose him. You didn't hold my son when he thought his 'big brother' was going to die. No, you took off and left and you have _nothing _to show for it. And now other innocent people are in the middle of this crap. If you won't lift a finger to help them, than I will."

"Hayes is _not _someone you want to mess with—"

"But I'm not going to mess with him. Natalie Rice is, right?"


	5. Rushed Preparations

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 5,433  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: The chapters on this one just seem to get longer and longer. that's okay. They cover plenty of ground that way. And I owe the twins thanks. they're not exactly my betas, but they do point out when something doesn't work and when my lack of knowledge of things like... guns is an issue.

* * *

><p><strong>Rushed Preparations<strong>

"I don't blame Hayes for being annoyed. You _are _a hard man to find."

Nico had heard the other man approach, had been more or less certain of his identity from the way that he walked, and he was not as trigger happy as the rest of them seemed to be, but he was not above wanting to confront the other man. "Westen, I have half a mind to hurt you right now. I might not win the fight, but that doesn't mean I'm any less pissed about this. I know Sam's the one that asked me, but this is _your _mess, not his. He's here for you. Basically, everyone is here for you. I would have pulled her out of New York, yes. But she would not be in Miami, would not be anywhere near Hayes, if I hadn't agreed to play a role in your personal cause."

Westen nodded. "You could throw a punch or two if you think it would help."

"It wouldn't. I know that much."

"I don't want her involved," Westen went on, doing a sweep of the perimeter. Nico had done one only a few minutes ago, but that didn't mean it was safe. Westen could have a tail. "I don't like it. She's an untrained amateur."

"The trouble is, I think she can do it," Nico admitted unhappily. Santino was a lot of things—among them a very tough, very determined woman who did everything and anything she set her mind to. She was strong, but that led her to the misconception that she could handle anything, help anyone. Fix anything. Nico knew that feeling, and he knew how much failure cost. She didn't want that on her hands, only she would never listen to him now. "I don't _want_ her to. There is a reason that I left all of this behind a long time ago. It wasn't about me. It was the people that got caught up in what I was doing. Even if I was just unable to talk about what I did, that was enough."

"You left voluntarily."

"I am not ignorant of your quest to clear your name. It's an admirable goal, but can the ends really justify the means? Do you know for sure that Hayes can get you what you want? Even if he had some kind of information, the chances of getting to it are remote at best."

"We didn't go into it with the idea that it would be easy. The plan was—all you really need to know is that we were in right up until someone from my past or the people behind this burn notice blew my cover in the middle of it. I _had _Hayes. I was close to what I needed and someone set me up."

"Amusing. Not that you failed to mention that someone had burned you in the op, but that you actually thought they'd stay away from you. That's not how it works."

Westen looked at him suspiciously. "Were you burned?"

"Did I ever say I was a spy?"

"You didn't say you weren't, and you wouldn't say if you were."

"True." Nico smiled a little. "You have a very analytical mind. It serves you well, but you have an obsessive personality as well, and that does not. There's truth to the saying that you can't see the forest from the trees, after all."

"We could run an op on your friend. Convince her that she's playing the part she thinks she wants and get someone else in, have them do what needs to be done."

"I have a network, people I've worked with for years, something I built over twenty years, lots of time, lots of effort, and if I thought for a moment that I could actually pull from it, I would have already done so. I told you. My organization has been compromised. If I had the time, if I could be in two places at once, I would be hunting down the leak in my own security. I started it before I left, and I did leave it in the hands of the man I trust the most up there, but that doesn't mean much when everything is suspect."

"You may actually be more paranoid than I am."

"I might just take that as a compliment."

"When was the last time you slept, really? Years ago?"

Nico laughed. "Not quite that long ago. Before we set anything in motion with Santino or anyone else, I need Glenanne to do another extraction."

"Excuse me?"

"Threat assessment. My side. Donnally would be the next name on the list. If this person is targeting the staff and team for what I think they are, then he would be the next one on the list. He's well-liked. Within the chaos up there, he'd be someone they'd turn to for guidance, leadership. Some people would choose the coach, but if this person knows the team like I think they do, he would go after Donnally."

"You have someone in mind?"

"If I did, not even that bastard Hayes could keep me here instead of going after him, trust me on that," Nico answered. He put his hands in his pockets. "There's something else."

"What?"

"Terrence King regained consciousness."

"You want an extraction for a man in the hospital? That's... gonna take some doing."

"Especially since you'd have to get past my staff to do it. I asked for Glenanne for Donnally because she's already made contact with him," Nico explained. "Do I think she can handle getting TK on her own? No. Do I want him here? No. He shouldn't even leave the hospital, but he _is _at risk. When I left, I was under the impression that I had a minor gap in security. TK was with his detail. He was not alone, and I didn't have the time to finish looking into that oversight—actually, I didn't really need to, or so I thought. It was my own lack of attention. That's not the issue. The point is that he cannot stay where he is."

"If you want to walk away from this, I understand."

"While it would seem that you and I have several things in common, Westen, you do _not _understand my position. There are far too many variables, most of which I kept to myself."

"This have to do with the 'Gabby' that Sam's always asking you about?"

Nico looked over at him. "'Gabby' would be Gabriella Pittman. Wife of my... employer, a man I owe my life to. A woman that I couldn't quite disentangle myself from. Sam hates her, as you're aware, blames her for screwing my life up, though I managed that well enough on my own."

"Sam likes to blame a lot of the problems in my life on Fiona."

"'Some people say that there's a woman to blame,'" Nico quoted, shaking his head. "Whereas the women in question always blame the men. In my case, I deserve it. Can Glenanne and Axe take the trip to New York and get my people, or do I need to make other arrangements?"

"I thought you didn't trust your people."

"I don't."

Westen frowned slightly. "Sam and Fi can handle it. Neither of them is going to like being pulled from the action. Fi's not going to like being away when she feels a woman needs coaching to be a weapon. Only a woman can teach a woman properly."

"Ms. Glenanne has a point—when it comes to the employment of feminine wiles. They'll be gone less than a day if everything goes according to plan. A day and a half, maybe. You can handle the basics until then."

"Me?"

"Santino wants nothing to do with me, and I can't spend much time around the rest of you. We both know that."

"Is there a question you don't have an answer to?"

"Who burned you and why," Nico said, walking away. He stopped and turned back for a second. "Not that you'll take my advice, but... life can surprise you by being a lot longer than you think, and spending it out in the cold is no way to live. The things you think matter have a habit of being nothing when you finally see them up close. In the end, it's the people that matter, and by then, you've pushed them all away."

* * *

><p>"I think I'll just hit him over the head."<p>

"Fiona—"

"What? It would be the simplest way to get him out of there. He's surrounded by all those big guys, and walking up to him after making his girlfriend disappear is only going to get me stuck in the middle of all those muscles and a whole lot of trouble," Fiona said, shaking her head as she leaned against the car, studying the field. Careles had given them some specifics about the layout and security, but she had a feeling he'd left some of the detail out. He was too careful _not _to.

"We have run snatch-and-grab jobs dozens of times," Sam reminded her. "Just follow the normal procedure here. I know Nico, and his people are going to rain hell down on our asses if we don't do it the cleanest way possible. So, here's what'll happen. I'll go in, pretend to be an overzealous fan looking for an autograph. While I'm raising a fuss, you slip in, get close to Donnally and tell him if he wants to see the girl again he'll come with you without asking questions. They'll throw me out, I'll meet up with you two, and we'll be long gone before anyone knows that Donnally's gone."

"I hate it when you and Micheal insist on taking all the fun out of these things," Fiona muttered, putting on her sunglasses. Sam shook his head as he walked off. She waited. One thing he had failed to consider in this little plan of his was that Careles' security was so tight that there was no way in hell the normal overzealous fan was going to get past it. Chances were that Sam was going to spend the better part of the day in the security office trying to explain himself. He might admit to knowing Careles, but if the staff tried to call him, he wasn't taking the calls—hadn't since he'd started this thing with Hayes, she'd noticed—and he might botch the whole thing.

Then again, Sam knew Pittman, too. Maybe that would be enough.

Sam started hassling the first man he could find for an autograph, and his teammates tried to intervene. Fiona waited until security started toward them before she made her own move. She walked right up to Donnally and cleared her throat. "So this is your day job."

He turned toward her and frowned. "What the hell? Anne? Where the hell is Dani? What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. She's safe. You want to see her, come with me now."

"Who the hell are you? Why did you take her?"

"She came with me willingly, but if you'd like to put up a fight, we can go there."

Donnally laughed. "Are you kidding me? You wouldn't last a second. There's me, seven players, and four security guys between you and the exit."

She gave him an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, I so want to prove you wrong about your little assumption that the weak girl can't fight, but I kind of promised that I'd just mention a certain incident in the locker room with a blonde who was... shall we say... _not _what you thought she was that almost cost you a job instead."

Donnally frowned at her again. "How—I don't know what you're talking about."

"The name was Rachel, and you still owe him," Fiona added with a smirk as Donnally went a bit pale. She was so glad that Careles had picked that particular story to tell. She _did _get the feeling that the man in the coat didn't like muscles very much, either. Probably because of the woman. Though it could be something else. Fiona just wanted it to be Dani. "Shall we go now?"

"Damn it, I should have know that this was Nico," Donnally muttered, shaking his head as he walked along with her. "How do you know him? What is going on? Where did you take Dani? Why? What is Nico up to?"

"Oh, honey, no one knows that but Nico," Fiona said as they got near the car. She looked over in time to see Sam getting shoved out of the gate. He straightened his shirt and threw some insults back at the men who'd tossed him out and then turned to Fiona with a big grin.

"Like clockwork," Sam said as he reached the car. "Gotta hand it to my buddy Nico, though. Those boys are tough. Trained. I'm betting at least one of them is ex-special forces and the other... He's straight off the streets, but they're sharp."

"You know Nico, too?" Donnally asked Sam. Sam gave him a look. "Is anyone going to explain what's going on here?"

"Let's just put it this way: Nico saved your ass. Again."

* * *

><p>"I swear, if he asks again, it won't be you that decks him. You're the trigger happy one, but he's driving me nuts," Sam told Fiona as they prepared the back of the van. "I get that he's concerned, but it's like having a child in the back seat asking if we're there yet. Only instead of asking us if we're there, he's asking where Dani is. If she's safe. Who we are. Where Nico is. The same three questions over and over again. I guess it's better than one, but still... Nico owes me <em>big <em>for this. That guy is nothing but trouble, and why the hell does Nico want to help the man who's got his girl, anyway? Why not let the guy get shot?"

"Because he cares about _her, _you idiot," Fiona said, rolling her eyes. "Donnally matters to her, so Nico's making sure that he's safe for _her _sake. It's certainly not for _his."_

"Yeah, you've gotta be right about that one," Sam agreed, shaking his head. He looked the van over again. "It's never going to be an ambulance, but since we don't have Campbell here with us, we have to make do with what we've got."

Fiona nodded. She frowned for a bit and then shook her head, focusing again. "Let's get our distraction and retrieve the last package so that we can get back to Miami. I'm not a big fan of New York these days."

"Can't say I blame you," Sam said, shutting the doors. He walked over to the car and knocked on the window. Donnally looked up at him, and Sam opened the door. "Come on. Time for you to get the guards away from the door so that we can take care of this."

"TK shouldn't leave the hospital."

"Yeah, well, as much as I'd like to leave him here to recover, Nico says he's in danger, and I trust Nico a whole lot more than I trust any doctors or security staff."

"Why? You still haven't said how you know him or why he sent you here, and I'm sorry, but I still don't think that moving TK is a good idea, and I'm not going to help you do it. He got shot. He just woke up a few hours ago."

"And he's now in danger again. Don't you _get _it? This is not about some random shooting. Someone targeted this player. Then the quarterback. He would have gone after your doctor friend if Nico hadn't gotten Fiona to pull her and her kids out. Now you're next on the list, but with this guy awake, you're not alone. You need to shut up and do what you're told if you want everyone to make it through this alive."

"I'd like to know what the hell is going on. That's not too much to ask, is it?"

"Look, we don't have the time to argue over this. We don't have time to chit chat, either. The longer we stay, the more likely it is that someone will get hurt. That someone is going to be you. I don't have any enemies here. That I know of. Fiona's got a few, but she knows how to handle them."

"You people are crazy."

"No argument here. Just go already. Give the guards some coffee with our special laxative blend and walk away. Two seconds. We will handle the rest," Sam told him. When Donnally didn't budge, Sam shook his head. "Nico and I were in the SEALs together. He saved my life. More than once. Sometimes just by looking at a situation and saying it was wrong. Bastards tried to take away his purple heart for disobeying orders and ended up giving him a medal of honor. He's one of few people to have that while he's still breathing. If he tells you to do something, you shut up and do it."

"I've known the man five years, and he never even mentioned that he was a SEAL until Dani came along," Donnally said as he got out of the car. "I'm not used to taking orders from him. He does his own thing and never says anything to anyone. And it's not like his methods are all that squeaky clean or anything."

"Yeah, well, I'm not surprised that he doesn't mention being a SEAL," Sam admitted, shaking his head. It should never have gone down like that. Too many good men had died that should not have died. Nico had almost been one of them, and the fact that he wasn't left him feeling indebted to that damn Pittman for the rest of his life. "That last mission is best described as a cluster fuck. One Nico saw coming, but no one listened to him about. People died. Don't be like them. Be smart. Do what you're told."

Fiona handed him the coffee. "This is simple. Give them the cups, go in and sit next to your player. We'll be there after the guards are gone. Then we will move in and handle everything else. Do we understand the plan now? You're going in there before one of us smacks the crap out of you? If not, well... I've got a taser. I like to use it."

"She does. She'll taser herself if she needs to. The woman is hard core."

"You're all insane."

"This kind of insane keeps us alive. It'll keep you alive."

"I hope so," Donnally muttered, taking a final deep breath before he headed inside.

Sam looked at Fiona. She shook her head. "I hate working with amateurs."

"I hope Mike's having better luck than we are."

* * *

><p>Dani was starting to think she had a way bigger mouth than she ever had a brain. Not that she was stupid, but she'd been so angry with Nico that she'd made a very rash decision, and she wasn't sure she could actually <em>do <em>what she'd said she would do. She was not a psychotic thief. She was a therapist, and she'd never held a gun in her life. Micheal had given her a small one to adjust to, and she'd kept it in her purse for a while, then tried carrying it, tried stashing it in her waistband or something, but it really didn't feel like her.

She was still terrified of it going off even though it was very _very _not loaded.

"I am about as intimidating as a mouse right now, aren't I?" she asked Micheal, looking over at the shotgun on the table. That was Madeleine's, and for someone who did senior's aqua aerobics, she handled it like a pro. "This is the part where you decide to lock me in in a closet and tell me to forget it while the rest of you go out and do whatever it is you spy types do."

Micheal gave her a small smile. "You're still getting comfortable with the _idea _of the gun. It's a big adjustment for someone who has never carried one, so you just relax. The point is to look natural with it. That's all you have to do. It won't be loaded with live ammunition—we'll give you some blanks for effect when you go, but if you can't get comfortable with the gun beforehand, you won't be able to sell this at all."

"How soon before the kids come back from bingo? I don't want them seeing me like this."

"Only be ashamed of them seeing you like that if you can't pull it off. Which is what you're doing right now. It's not a snake, Doctor. It's not going to bite. Just stay calm. Loosen your grip. Someone experienced with a gun doesn't hold it so tightly that their knuckles turn white. And don't hold it sideways like that. You want it straight. Sideways is cute on tv and movies, but it throws off your aim."

Dani nodded. "Okay."

Micheal's phone rang, and he moved away. Dani made a face at the gun. It didn't feel right. It didn't look right. She couldn't pull this off at all. It was only going to get worse once she fired it.

"Use two hands. It'll be steadier that way."

She jumped at the sound of Nico's voice and dropped the gun. She cursed, loudly. "Damn it. I can't _do _this. And don't say_ I told you so. _You're not allowed to say _I told you so."_

Nico shook his head. "I wouldn't bother trying. Here. Start over from the beginning. What Westen didn't factor in getting you acquainted with the concept of a gun is that most people don't use the small guns unless it's for back up. You want to pull this off, you'll want a larger caliber. They're equally as deadly, don't be fooled, but with a lot of people, size is everything."

Dani watched as he pulled out another gun, one almost twice the size as the one that Micheal had given her. "I didn't ever think I'd see you with a gun. I mean, you had to know how to use them, being a SEAL, but you don't... carry them, do you?"

"When I have to, but I prefer not to. Carrying a loaded gun is asking for trouble. If you're already in it, like Westen is, then it's just another measure of defense. If not... Well, chances are more likely you'll get hurt than hurt anyone else."

She nodded again. Her brain was starting to hurt from all of this, and not because she didn't understand but because she didn't _want _to. She didn't like the road all of this lead down, and she didn't like the darkness that seemed to be at the end of it.

Nico put the gun in her hand. "This is a forty-five. Ms. Glenanne is partial to these. You'll feel it's heavier, not just because of the size but also because there are blanks in it. That's not the weight of a real loaded gun, and you'd need to act like it was just a bit heavier."

She frowned, and then Nico reached around her back to put her other hand on the gun, raising her arm and adjusting her grip. "Look down the sight, get used to holding it like this. Don't think that holding it one-handed would be more effective. A professional knows the value of a steady shot over a wild one, and Natalie Rice is a professional. This isn't hot potato, don't send it back and forth between your hands. Let your dominant hand be dominate and use the other to steady the gun. It helps to have a target, too, so aim for that picture on the wall."

"Like that?"

Nico shook his head and came behind her again, moving her arms just a little bit higher. He studied over her shoulder for a minute. "There. Can you see it? Is that flower center for you?"

"Uh huh."

She'd never really noticed his aftershave before, but whatever that was, it smelled nice. There was a hint of something else, too, something she assumed was gunpowder, and she felt a bit dizzy. It had to be that she was holding a gun. When was the last time she'd eaten?

"It's loaded with blanks, and if you wanted to scare Westen, you could try firing one."

"Nico!" she said, but then she had to fight the urge to laugh. She almost wanted to do it. From what she could tell, it was Micheal who had started this whole thing. "That's horrible."

"Start by taking off the safety. If you can handle that, move your finger to the trigger. You're going to have to be able to do both if you want to look like you know what you're doing."

"I do," she told him. "I need to do this."

He shook his head again, putting his hand on hers and guiding her finger through taking off the safety. "There. Safety's off. Just move your finger onto the trigger. Don't put any real pressure on it. Think of it like... a balloon. You don't want to pop it."

"I thought you wanted me to scare Micheal."

"Eventually. First I think you should get used to this."

_Used to the gun or used to you having your arms around me? _She couldn't believe she'd just had that thought. She forced herself to breathe again. She'd frozen instead of dropping the gun, so that had to be something, right?

Nico moved to the side, frowning at her. She looked at him. "Am I doing it wrong now?"

"No. I was just trying to figure out what happened there."

"Nothing," she lied quickly. This was Fiona's fault. She had to go talking all that stuff about Matt being cute but Nico being better and threatening to "play" with Nico, putting thoughts in Dani's head that she would never have had before. Besides, she knew that Nico was still hung up on Mrs. Pittman, and the whole arms around Dani thing was just part of the gun training.

"Wow. You've made progress," Micheal began coming back into the room, and the gun went off, knocking Dani back a little. He ducked, and she cursed. "Or not."

"She's fine until someone spooks her," Nico said, reaching over to put the safety back on for her. She stood still, trying to calm her racing heart after that shot. She couldn't handle this. Clearly. "Was that Sam or Glenanne?"

"It was Fi. She says that they moved TK to the safe house you'd arranged and gave him over into the care of the nurse. They're en route with Donnally."

"ETA?"

"Standard flight from New York. Why?"

"Hayes called. He's got the time and the designated route. He wants to meet."

Dani looked at both of them, painfully aware of the gun in her hands. "Oh, this is bad. There's no way I'm ready for this."

* * *

><p>"Dani!" Donnally called, rushing through Madeleine's front door to wrap his arms around her. He held onto her for a long time, then stepped back and stared at her. "What are you wearing? What is going on?"<p>

"Again with the questions. I swear I'm gonna shoot him," Fiona muttered, shaking her head. She took in Dani's outfit critically. She knew what it was. This was supposed to be Natalie Rice, not Dani Santino. It was wasn't a bad look for her, either. The bad news was that meant that the operation was about to go forward, and they had little time to prepare.

"Is it okay, Fiona? Micheal and Nico were of no help fashion-wise, but Madeleine said it was something you would wear. Lindsay thinks I've gone psycho, and Ray Jay just stared at the television the entire time. Oh, and Virgil said I looked nice."

"Who's Virgil? Why are you dressed like that? Who's Madeleine? Would someone _please _explain what's going on here?"

Fiona ignored him. She walked around Dani for a moment. "Yeah, you've got the clothes. I don't know about the rest of it, but you definitely have the clothes."

Dani looked at Donnally for a second. She forced a smile. "I've got more than the clothes."

She reached behind her and withdrew a forty-five that made Fiona want to drool a little, thumb on the safety, holding it like she'd handled guns all her life. Wait, _was _she Natalie Rice? Because Santino shouldn't have picked that up so fast. The gun went back behind her back. "Micheal and Nico gave me a crash course. Then Madeleine took over after Nico had to leave and first Micheal then Virgil got frustrated. I'm still not sure I can pull it off."

"You just made me think you were Natalie Rice," Fiona said, looking to Sam, who also nodded. "I'm proud of you, girl. That is an incredible amount of progress—unless you really are Natalie, and then it's not so surprising."

Dani shook her head. "No. It's just me. I got to do the Bond thing with the gun to get comfortable with it—carried it with me, wore it, slept with it—and then Nico got more hands on with the training and gave me the forty-five instead of the twenty-two, and I fired one for the first time on accident, but Micheal took me to the range. I got some real practice with it, and so basically I had a bunch of training rammed down my throat so that I can maybe fake it."

"Wait a minute. What do you mean, _hands on?"_

Dani looked over at her boyfriend, annoyed. "Not what you think, obviously. He was training me to hold a gun so that I didn't look like a complete fool."

"I don't like this," Donnally said, shaking his head. "Why do you have a gun? Why are they calling you Natalie? What is going on?"

"A-Plus on the class, Doctor," Sam told her, reaching over to touch her shoulder in congratulation. Donnally looked at his hand like he was considering decking Sam for touching "his" woman, and Fiona hoped that he tried it. Someone should get to smack him. "Faking it totally works."

"Can I see it?" Fiona asked. Sam gave her a look. "What? It's a beautiful piece."

"Yeah, I know. It's the one they got him when he got the medal of honor. Thought he told me he threw it in the river, though," Sam said. Fiona stared at him, and Sam shook his head. "Nico was not exactly... in the mood to cheer after that. We lost half the team, and he got hit pretty bad. Plenty of memories there that he didn't want, and that was before Pittman got his claws in."

"Pittman, as in Marshall Pittman? You know him?"

"He's a rat bastard and his wife is worse," Sam snapped. He looked around. "Maddie? You got any beers around? I've got a powerful thirst, and if I don't get something soon, I may just have to take on someone with more muscles than sense."

"I'll... Damn. Sam, I'll get you for this! Find Micheal for me!"

"What?" Donnally asked, shaking his head. "What is going on here? What now? You know, if someone would answer _one _question, just one, then I could... Dani, please, can we talk? Will you tell me what's going on here? No one else will."

"I can tell you part of it," she began hesitantly, and he reached for her hand. She gave him a slight but very uncomfortable smile. Fiona didn't envy her the conversation, not for a minute.

"Can we... get some privacy?" Donnally asked, looking at Fiona.

She shook her head. "Gotta keep you in sight. You're all under threat, and someone needs to be with you. The kids are with Maddie and Virgil and Sam now, but you two are stuck with me. Sorry."

Dani frowned. "Micheal left me alone earlier. Oh, but Nico showed up right after that. Never mind."

Donnally put his arm around her, then withdrew it when he felt the gun. "Uh... explanation? Please?"

"I'll take that," Fiona said, getting her hands on the forty-five and running her fingers over it with a smile. Now _this _was a gun. Careles had good taste. Or the people who bought it for him did. This thing was incredible. She checked the sight and then the clip. Donnally was staring at her. She smirked back and took aim.


	6. Final Plans

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 5,080  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: The conversation at the beginning of this one, I wrote it and then had to do go over it again because it didn't really work with, well, reality. It got longer... and better. A lot better, and more realistic. And then Maddie stepped in to do what really needed to be done. :)

* * *

><p><strong>Final Plans<strong>

"Your perimeter still sucks."

"You're making it better every time you slip through and we fix it. How'd you do it this time?" Westen asked, and Nico shrugged. He wasn't really up to an explanation at the moment. Westen frowned at him. Nico held up a hand.

"It's just a little too much alcohol and not enough food to absorb it at this point. Hayes wanted to drink and provided generous amounts of a very expensive and perfectly aged scotch. He did not provide any food. Despite my best efforts to refuse it, he would _not _let me have the details until I had at least two glasses," Nico explained. "Food. Water. I'll be fine."

"You sure about that?"

"The thought crossed my mind that he might have found a way to lace the alcohol with a tracking device, but then most people don't know how to do that in a nonlethal way, so if he had there'd be no real point in doing any of the few very unpleasant things that might disable it."

"You _are _more paranoid than me."

"I think that's what I'm feeling more than anything," Nico said, shrugging. Westen gave him a look. "I am fairly convinced that there was more than alcohol in that glass, judging by how he insisted on me drinking it. So, running through the options—if he's tracking me, I'm as good as dead and compromised everything, but he wants this to work, so I don't think he would have gone for a potentially lethal tracking system. Next likely possibility is that he gave me something to encourage my... honesty, which I find ironic as well as useless. I don't think that I'd feel like this if I was simply drunk, and he didn't get me to drink that much, so a drug. Almost definitely. What I can't say for certain, but it's making it hard to focus and is starting to disagree with my stomach. Did you want to have this discussion here or somewhere else?"

"I am a _little _concerned that you won't make it anywhere else at this point, Careles, so we're going to have this discussion here. Come on," Weston said, putting Nico's arm over his shoulder and assisting him into the house. "Mom, I need you to get a big pitcher of water and probably some food, if you have anything that's easy on the stomach."

"What's going on, Micheal?" she called even as she ran water from the sink.

"Our new friend drank something he shouldn't have, and he's kind of feeling it right now, Ma, so if you could just get the water and have it ready for us," Westen called, pulling Nico into the front room and over to the couch.

"Oh, damn, Nico, what happened to you?"

Nico grimaced. "Westen, I think I'm going to need... a bucket."

"Exactly what are you feeling right now? We need to figure out the most likely drug and counter it."

"It has to be something that interacts badly with alcohol—something that's not a well-known side effect or he wouldn't have laced the scotch with it," Nico said, involuntarily curling up against himself to ride out the wave of pain. It would pass. The nausea would pass. He would survive, though the next few hours would be extremely unpleasant. "I will be fine. We have to discuss the route. Where is Ms. Glenanne?"

"Don't understand why you insist on calling everyone by their formal name, especially when you're sick," Sam told him, shaking his head. He put one of the couch's pillows behind Nico's head, and Nico shot him a dirty look. He did not need to be babied here. "Fiona's with the... Well, we kind of stuck the doc with explaining things to the trainer, and someone had to watch them. Fiona got stuck with it."

"Like you really pity her. You set her up, Sam."

"Nothing gets by you, does it?"

"I am finding it very hard to focus right now, I'm not sure I'll be able to do it at all for much longer, so please get Ms. Glenanne before I lose it completely," Nico said. "And Doctor Santino as well. She will need to hear this, at least when it comes to the route. The children are asleep, I assume. Virgil is outside the children's room right now? He still has a boat, doesn't he? I think he had better take the children out on it. Day trip, start early, return late. You, too, Mrs. Westen. I may have something that can take care of three birds with one stone, as it were. It's either brilliant or poisoning induced psychosis."

"Here, Nico, drink this," Mrs. Westen said, handing him a glass of water. She practically dumped it in his face trying to get it in his mouth.

"Maddie, he can handle it," Sam said, taking the cup from her and giving it to Nico. "Drink up, old buddy. We're gonna need you back on your feet."

"I will be fine. This is temporary," Nico said, taking a sip from the water and leaning back in the chair. Mrs. Westen put the bucket in his lap, but the nausea passed again, meaning that maybe he wouldn't need it.

"Nico?"

"Donnally." Nico acknowledged him curtly, looking over as Santino entered the room, followed by Glenanne. She frowned at him and then looked accusingly over at Westen. Westen shrugged. It wasn't really the man's fault. Nico had made the call on the drink. No one had forced it down his throat.

Santino stopped by his chair. "Nico, did... something happen to you?"

"Hayes gave him a drink that was laced with something. We're still figuring out what it is," Sam explained, shaking his head. "You know better than that. You, of all people. You're the one that said that field was full of land mines. The one who knew we were about to walk into a trap in South America. The one who—"

"Whatever it was had no taste, nothing that was visible in the glass, and it was delayed enough not to take effect until I got halfway here. I watched him pour the drinks. Nothing happened to him. I didn't like it, but even though the same instincts were there, I had no reason not to drink it," Nico said, drinking from his water slowly. He waited for a wave of pain to pass. "Whatever it was must have been in the glass before he poured it or he drugged himself as well. He knows what it is, so he can stop it, whereas I will have to let it run its course, whatever that might be. Sam, do me a favor."

"Anything, buddy."

"Something goes wrong, don't let them bury me with the damn medals. Don't want them for all of eternity. Should be cremated, but someone's bound to disagree and go for military honors."

"You know you deserve it. You have a damn good record and were a damn fine SEAL. 'Sides, it's not like you talk like this. You were never big on speeches like this. Hated them. You remember when Mack thought he was dying that one time—you know, I had a talk with Mack. We worked things out over Amanda. Turns out she left him, too."

"And you like to criticize my love life?"

"There's nothing wrong with my love life. Even my marriage... I'm not the marrying kind, and Amanda was a lot of things, but she was not half as bad as Gabby."

"What is it you want to hear? That Juliette was never mine but that she let me think that she was to keep a hold on me all this time?" Nico countered, dropping the water glass and losing part of what was in his stomach. Santino picked up the glass, trying to get close enough to help him. He tried to wave her off, but she wasn't about to be stopped.

"Move," she shooed Sam off the couch, forcing him to stand with the others. Nico did not want to lay out and was not pleased to be this weak in front of them. If they could have waited to discuss the plans—which he was half wondering if it was part of Hayes' intention. This could be as simple as trying to keep Nico in one place for the night, since the cargo was going to be on the move in the morning. The main symptoms seemed to mimic a case of food poisoning. Someone less paranoid than Nico might have accepted it like it was nothing unusual. "Lay down, Nico."

He thought about arguing with her and chose not to, given the situation. He didn't do it fast enough for her, so she ended up pulling him down, almost into her lap. Sam helpfully gave her the pillow. "This is unnecessary. I'm not that bad, better, in fact, now that I've thrown up. We should get back on topic. I never meant to stray so far off-topic or say bunch of things that I will regret saying in the morning. Certain predictable outcomes—consequences of the various possibilities were assessed—and one might rush to the judgment—a very questionable one, at best—that he might have tried to give me something to make me talk—"

"Yeah, I'd say it's not that off-base," Sam said, patting his shoulder awkwardly. "Hate to tell you this, but you're babbling."

"Talking makes the pain easier to ignore," Nico admitted. The nausea was worse again, but the thing was, if he lost what he had ingested, he was, unfortunately, better off. He frowned as he felt fingers in his hair, another hand on his back, moving in small circles. Nico would have wanted to see Donnally's reaction to that, but he couldn't hardly lift his head at the moment. "Needed the intel, decided it was worth the risk. Don't give me that look, Sam. This is what we do. What we are. Can't make that go away. Look at you. At Westen. Glenanne."

"You got out. You had a life without this crap. Cushy job with a security team. All until I got you involved in this."

"Key word being 'had.'" Nico felt his stomach cramp again, the muscles tightening, and forced himself to sit up before he vomited on Santino. Sam held out the bowl, and Santino's hand went to Nico's back again. Soothing gestures—she was such a mother—but he couldn't allow them to put him to sleep, either. "Westen, where's my tablet? You have it, don't you?"

"Here," Westen said, passing it over. "You have better security than I thought was available for those things."

"Of course I do. I wouldn't carry anything that was insecure or could be hacked remotely," Nico answered, shaking his head. He pulled up the route and put it on display for everyone to see. "I also have some features that are not yet commercially available. Observe the route. Hayes was very specific. He didn't want to listen to any argument about raising suspicion by avoiding normal trade routes or the potential for bottle-necking the vehicle. He wants this cargo across the country as soon as possible. This would be the spot I'd choose for an ambush. Ms. Glenanne, I assume that you have heavier firepower. Something that will take down a semi-truck?"

"What do you want?" Glenanne asked with a smile that should worry everyone. "I can give you a few options."

"Just enough to disable the engine," he insisted, looking to Westen and Sam, who nodded. "Nothing more. Remember, no damage to the cargo."

"Absolutely."

Nico emptied more of his stomach, just acid at this point, but the muscles were not relaxing there. Westen picked up the tablet and continued to look at the route. "You said something about three birds?"

"I don't think we should talk anymore," Santino said, helping Nico to lay back again. She put her hand in Nico's hair again, and this time he didn't miss the look from Donnally. "You need to stop. Get treatment. You can't do this."

"Have to finish the conversation now. We have a very limited window for planning, and if we don't get it right, that means the whole thing is screwed. I can see this through. I know how to resolve at least three of our problems, and I think I can get in with Hayes. You said you were prepared to play whatever part you had to play. So am I."

"Even if it gets you killed?"

He looked at her. "This is painful but temporary. I am more concerned with the lasting repercussions of the stuff I can't seem to stop myself from saying. Westen, I assume you can fake some deaths?"

"The birds?"

"Hayes expects me to watch the transfer. I expect you to have fireworks and a very credible thief in play. If this route leaks, though, he'll know that I can't be trusted."

"And you'll be standing right next to him where he can kill you on the spot."

"Unless I tell him I know who Rice is and how she got to the information."

"What?"

Nico saw the confusion and even some anger in their looks. "After 'Rice' robs him, Hayes will want payback. I can convince him that Rice pretended to use the Santino identity to get close to... the organization. If we wanted to take it a step further, Donnally could be a part of that cover and the leak. Rice eliminates Donnally. I eliminate Rice. Hayes is happy. He doesn't need to find the leak. Instead, he finds a measure of trust, setting in motion the next stage. In the meantime, it might be prudent to leak the evidence of the 'deaths' to Sam's source and then to the man with the list. Santino and Donnally will no longer be in danger from that side, and the man will be forced to make another move."

"That is... genius."

"Genius?" Donnally demanded. "He's talking about serving Dani up on a silver platter to save his own skin. What is so damn genius about that?"

"Matt, he's actually protecting me. The sooner Hayes thinks I'm—or Rice—isn't a threat, the sooner he stops looking for me. If he was hunting through Miami for Rice, then he might find all of us. My children."

"Dani, you don't have to do this—there has to be another way."

"That's what everyone said, but I made my decision. I stand by it. The only reason I would have quit is if I really didn't think I could do it, but I _can _fake being Rice. I don't even have to do it for very long. I'll have Fiona, Sam, and Micheal to protect me. Nico's the one taking all the risks, silly fool that he is."

"Someone doesn't have the stomach for this, and it is not Careles," Glenanne muttered. "Time for the children to go to bed while the adults take care of the rest of this. Michael, you want to show him to his room? Maybe you should tuck him in."

Donnally gave the woman a dark look, and Westen gave him one that made him flinch. Mrs. Westen touched her son's arm. "Let me handle this. I think I can manage to walk him to the garage and back."

"Uh, thank you, Madeleine," Donnally began, but as soon as he got close to her, she smacked him in the back of the head and then grabbed him by the ear.

"I'll be the first to admit that it can be frustrating to be on the outside. Not to know what's going on. To be keep in the dark for my own protection. To want to know that the people I care about will be safe and being completely unable to help them. Micheal is my son, and I don't even want to think about the things he has done or the risks he has taken to ensure everyone's safety. Now, you might not like the man on my couch right now, and you may even be jealous, but you do _not _get to question his courage while he sits there in pain after risking his life to save yours and everyone else's, do you understand me? Good. Now I'll show you your room."

Nico shook his head slightly, surprised by the woman's defense of him, while Sam, Glenanne, and even Westen smiled. Sam looked at Nico. "Hey, Maddie's taken a shine to you. Not bad."

"Oh, well, if I'd known it would take getting drugged to impress Westen's mother... I would have refused the glass," Nico muttered. "I'm going to need someone to take me back to my hotel."

"Nico, I don't think you should go anywhere," Santino began, but Westen held up a hand.

"He's right. He can't be here when Hayes' men try to find him in the morning. Don't worry. We'll take care of him."

"Besides, Dani, I need you to come with me," Glenanne said. "There's more to Natalie Rice than holding a gun, and I'm going to need to teach you that while we get what we need."

Nico sat up, and Santino reluctantly got to her feet, biting her lip as she did. "You all think I can do this, right? I'm not going to get anyone hurt or killed because I'm stubborn and like to put myself right in the middle of everything?"

"Don't let Donnally get to you. You're a fast learner with a bit part and if we thought you couldn't do it, you wouldn't have gotten this far. There are other places where we could have taken you the minute you interfered with our plans. Trust me, we wouldn't have let you or anyone else be put in danger because of what we're doing," Westen told her. "Go with Fi. She'll help you with the rest of it, and then you'll need a lot more before Careles and you pull off the part with Hayes."

"A part of me has to wonder why I agreed to any of this," she said, shaking her head. "The other part of me is worried that I already know the answer."

"Good night, Doctor Santino."

Glenanne pulled Santino by the arm, leading her out of the room. Nico rolled over and threw up again. Westen looked at him. "How deep are you planning on going? Because from what you said earlier, you're looking to get into Hayes' organization using the elimination of Rice/Santino."

"Oh, no, Nico, you don't have to go that far. Not for this—"

"Maybe not, Sam. I'm not so certain about my judgment at the moment, that much is true," Nico agreed. He sat up, leaning his back against the couch. "I'm already in a position to do it, as well as having very little left to lose."

"What about everything back in New York?"

"When you are one of only two people that Marshall Pittman trusts and he finds out that you lied to him for twenty years about his wife, there's really nothing left to go back to," Nico explained tiredly. "I've been using the rumors of my... termination to advance the deal with Hayes from the second meeting."

"Damn it, Nico," Sam said, shaking his head. "Pittman fired you, but you still risked everything to help find out who's targeting his team? Hell, I'm gonna go up there and give Pittman a piece of my mind right now—"

"Don't bother. I didn't do any of this for Pittman—revenge or otherwise. I did this for the team. My situation with Gabriella blinded me to what was happening and got Terrence King shot. Caldwell was in an accident. I wouldn't let it go any further than that because of something I failed to do. I find the man who started this thing with the team, I settle that, and I'm done."

"You're not done," Sam insisted. "I won't let you be done. None of that fatalistic death crap and no going in there to get yourself killed. If you're going to give final speeches, you may as well fess up to everything. You have something to lose, and she just walked out the door a minute ago."

* * *

><p>"You worried about your friend, Sam?"<p>

Sam looked over at Mike and sighed. The wait felt extremely long, and admittedly, it was getting to all of them. Too many untested variables, too many things hanging on people that either Mike and Fiona didn't know well enough to trust—people that didn't trust themselves. It was going to be a tough morning, and no one them were going to breathe easy until it was done. "He's fine. Back on his feet and with Hayes, where he's supposed to be, if that's what you're asking."

"You know that's not what I meant, Sam."

"Yeah, I know," Sam agreed. He took a deep breath. "It's not good. Thing is, Mikey, this job with Pittman, the loyalty thing, that was Nico's life. It was his own burn notice, the thing he couldn't let go of. He doesn't have it any more, and you heard what I did. He thinks he's got nothing to lose. Dangerous place for anyone to be, especially going into a deal with a man like Hayes."

"You told him he has something to lose."

Sam shook his head. He wished it was that simple. Everyone else could see it. Everyone but Dani and Nico. If she had seen what she'd been doing last night, she would have known Donnally had a reason to be jealous. Nico would never have let her do it if he hadn't been more out of it than with it. "He's not the type of man that's going to interfere with what he thinks makes her happy. Hell, that's half the reason that Gabby was able to manipulate him for so long. As long as he believed that he couldn't give her what she needed, that Pittman could, he wasn't going to push for her to leave the bastard. He loved her. That meant she came first, to hell with what she was doing to his life or what she did to his sense of morality. He felt he owed Pittman his life. He couldn't go against him, but for her... There's no way he'd get involved with Santino, not after that bitch Gabby. Santino's got Donnally. Even if Nico was willing to admit he's got it bad for Dani—and he'd have a very hard time admitting that to begin with—he won't make a move on her."

"Sounds like we need to work on getting Dani to make the move. First, she needs to ditch Donnally, then she needs to seduce Careles, and then everyone wins," Fiona said, and Sam frowned. When had this conversation become three way?

"Fi, how long have you been listening to the conversation?"

"Dani's having some trouble with her earpiece, boys. She's in sight, but she can't hear us. Yet. You can relax. For a few minutes anyway. I think we have the basic idea, but we'll have to have a strategy meeting about that later. I am going to fix her earpiece now. You have been warned."

"Tell me why we put the radio on vox again?"

"Voice activation simplifies things for our amateur. We'll have to watch what we say, but we won't miss anything she says," Mike reminded him, and Sam nodded. Right. They were doing his for her. Brave lady. She might just end up getting herself killed. "One last thing. It is not our job to matchmake _anyone._ Are we clear, Fi?"

"You people run a dating service, too? When do you find the time with all the gun running and fake heists and saving people from a life of slavery? Not to mention the protection details and the Robin Hood acts and training pathetic therapists to fake being thieves and keeping alive former SEALs who apparently have some kind of death wish after they've been poisoned?" Dani asked, and Sam had to laugh. She was good. Nico needed that kind of woman in his life. "I think I see the truck. And Fiona has an expression on her face that I find almost frightening. How often does she fire these kinds of things?"

"Fiona actually specializes in making bombs, but she has pretty good aim, too," Sam said. She was about to jump down his throat, though. She prided herself on being the best shot in their little group, and she would go to great lengths to prove it.

"Settle in, people. The fireworks are about to start," Mike advised. "You with us here, Doctor Santino?"

"You mean, will Natalie flinch when the woman she hired fires a rocket into the engine of a semi? No. Absolutely not," Dani said over the comm, sounding way too much like Fiona for Sam's liking. She'd picked up what she needed to, and this was going to work.

Maybe.

* * *

><p>Dani took another breath, reminding herself that she was not a therapist right now. She was a thief, trained by a terrorist. No need for nerves, no reason to do anything other than hold a hand on her hip and wait impatiently as the truck came closer. No fear. She didn't believe for a second that it was going to hit her. Okay, truthfully, she <em>did, <em>but she had to keep pretending that she didn't. She was used to keeping her reactions in check—she had to, given what her patients might tell her. She couldn't let them think she was judging them or react as someone might to the natural horror of what they might say. A therapist had to be impartial. She had to listen and not talk. This wasn't all that different.

Or so she kept trying to tell herself so that she could get through it.

Her act had to be flawless, or she could get herself or the others killed. She should _never _have said she would do this, should never have argued for it. She had been hurt by what Nico said, and she'd been scared and angry and that led her to demand something that she never would have done if she'd been back in New York. Her children came first, so why was she risking her life for this? Nico had made it clear last night that even if they got past this point, he wasn't going to stop. This thing with Hayes wasn't about protecting her or her children.

What was it, the danger? Was she actually attracted to it? She wanted to do this because she'd never really had any kind of excitement like this before? She'd never done anything remotely illegal, nothing that was really in the gray area of it except that one time she—but that wasn't the point right now. She had to think that she was as vulnerable to the seduction of danger as anyone else. She wanted a life that was more than making meals and taking care of children and doing whatever Ray wanted—she'd known that for a long time. When she'd learned that he was cheating on her, she'd realized that he'd actually _liberated _her. She had a reason to move on from that trapped existence, and she would never go back.

Matt had led her to the Hawks, and a new phase of her life had begun. New patients, new challenges, new friends. She was far more than a house wife with a token therapy practice. She had become a name in her own right. She had changed the team, helped them get to the playoffs, but it was more than that. She'd helped so many others as well.

Why wasn't that enough? Why did she need something like this?

"Get ready," Fiona's voice came in her ear, and Dani shivered, but at least she didn't flinch. She looked back at the truck and held her gaze there, forcing herself not to look away as the rocket impacted the engine.

Dani swore she could feel the flames from here. The truck stopped dead not far from them, and the doors of the cab opened. Before the driver and his sidekick got all the way out of the truck, Michael and Sam had their guns trained on them and were telling them not to move. The driver tried anyway, but the man covered in black that had to be Sam shot him in the leg, and he fell down again.

Seeing him hold his hand over the wound, trying to stop the blood, Dani felt kind of sick. She turned back to Fiona. The other woman switched the rocket launcher out for a handgun. "Don't worry. He'll live. We would have used other ammunition, but with Natalie Rice in control, it had to be a real bullet."

Dani nodded unhappily. She took out her own gun and walked with Fiona over to the others. Micheal and Sam had already disarmed the men by the time they reached them. They were an incredible team, and she felt sorry for the men who were in their way. She stopped where Fiona had told her to stand and pointed the gun at the passenger, relieved when her hands didn't shake. "Don't move. You two unhook the trailer. Quickly. You get the other truck."

"Yes, ma'am," the three of them said, and Fiona jogged off to the truck they'd 'borrowed' for the mission. Sam and Micheal started taking the connections apart.

"Do you have any idea who you're messing with?" the passenger asked.

The driver looked over at him. "Shut up. I got a wife and kids back home. I don't feel like dying today, okay? Christ, I shouldn't even be in Miami. If that idiot hadn't fired his damn head of security, none of this would be happening, trust me."

Dani wanted to smile at that, but she couldn't. She looked over at the passenger. "You work for Hayes, don't you?"

He glared at her. "If you know that, why the hell are you doing this? He'll get you for this. He doesn't mess around, lady. He'll be after you. In a heartbeat."

"I'm looking forward to it," Dani told him, smiling now. "Assuming I let you live to report back to him, you'll have to say 'hi' for me."

"Crazy bitch."

Thinking of what Fiona—and by extension Natalie Rice would do—Dani stepped on his hand and dug in the heel of her boot. "You want to say that again? Yeah, I didn't think so."


	7. Reaction Process

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 4,589  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Reacting is a process, and they have a lot to react to in this chapter...

* * *

><p><strong>Reaction Process<strong>

"Catering for an entire 'business conference.' Chilled bottled water, no less. Nice touch," Fiona observed, looking at the card and then at the women and girls huddled around the room. They were going to need to move them, but they'd have to wait until it was safe. Judging from the way they kept looking at Micheal and Sam, these women had already been through hell. "Is there anything your friend _doesn't _think of?"

"Himself?" Sam said, shaking his head as he watched Dani talking to one of the women from the shipping container. "You know, it was impressive enough seeing her as Natalie Rice—didn't expect her to do that thing with the guy's hand, but this—this is _real _strength."

"Really?"

"At least it isn't half as scary as when she's acting like you," Sam said, shaking his head. Fiona smiled at the thought. She kind of liked it when Dani channeled her—other than the resemblance to Rice. That woman was going to pay some day, and if not for the whole getting Careles into Hayes' organization so that Micheal could get this damn burn notice thing over with, Fiona would have been fine with Hayes tracking that bitch down. Dani needed to be protected, though. They couldn't have Hayes looking for her.

"Fi, you gotta help Dani pass out this stuff. They won't take food or water from me," Micheal said, coming up to them and shaking his head. "How are the arrangements coming?"

"Well... We could turn them over to immigration, and they'd immediately be deported," Sam began, and Fiona shook her head. That was not happening. They were not sending these women back. They'd been desperate enough to trust Hayes—who knew what kind of price they'd had to pay—and they deserved better than this. Besides, they all needed... help.

"Not an option. Some of them probably have family here. We can find them."

"The longer they're with us, the more risk everyone takes," Micheal reminded her. She folded her arms over her chest. He sighed. "We'll talk to them after they've had a chance to eat and drink and realize that we are _not _the enemy. That means you need to distribute this stuff. Even then, Fi, if Hayes knows about their families, he will be watching them."

"Meaning they have to stay here until Hayes is no longer a problem. It might be safe after Hayes thinks the thief has been eliminated, but we can't be sure of that," Sam said. He took a deep breath. "We're going to have to keep them for a while. This is going to get dicey at best. We have too many people to protect and not enough people to watch them."

"Um, guys?" Dani began, coming over to them. She didn't look much like Rice at the moment. She pushed back some loose hair, looking tired. "I just spoke to Marta, there, and she tells me that there are three girls here, all from the same family. They have a cousin here, someone who arranged to have them brought over, but then when they got here... Marta seems to be one of few that actually speaks English. She's willing to translate, but some of these girls don't speak any language she knows, either."

"Between the three of us, we can probably fix that, and if not, we know some people. We will make sure these women get to their families."

Dani nodded. She rubbed the back of her neck. "This place has a shower, and we can get some new clothes for them, right? They shouldn't have to be stuck sitting in the same clothes they've been in for days. And being clean is going to do a lot for their mental well-being at this point."

"Sam?"

"Oh, please, you can't have Sam pick out clothes for them—"

"Someone is going to have to get the clothes, and someone has to help them with the food and showers. That kind of means you and Dani, Fi. When my mom gets back, she can help—"

"And Lindsay," Dani said, and they all looked at her. She smiled ruefully. "Yeah, my daughter's kind of a typical teenager, self-involved, and she may not seem like the type that would help out anyone else, but that's just the surface. I know that she has to have been more trouble than you think she's worth, but underneath all that is a girl with a good heart. She can help. And if you move everyone here... You only have to protect one location. Well, we'd need a second room for Matt and Ray Jay, to make the women more comfortable, but we can all stay here."

"You sure you're okay with that? This isn't exactly the Ritz here," Sam began, looking over at her. "We should be able to get some cots and blankets, maybe some curtains, but this isn't going to be anywhere close to what you're used to—"

"It'll be fine."

* * *

><p>"Drink?"<p>

"No, thank you. I told you—felt like I had food poisoning last night," Nico said, waving away the glass that Hayes offered him. He adjusted his position in the chair and tried to ignore the residual effects of the drug from the night before.

"Oh, yes, of course," Hayes agreed, smiling. "Still, for a sick man, you don't look that bad."

Nico looked at him. "What exactly is it that you want from me? Are you expecting me to fall over and die here? Should I be asking you if it was not food poisoning at all?"

"Would I do that?" Hayes asked, walking over to the bar again. He set down the one that he'd offered Nico and filled a different one for himself. Nico shook his head. Did the man think he was an idiot? "Please. I should be so lucky that I ran across you when you became a free agent. So far, everything I've learned of you has been impressive."

"I fail to see why," Nico admitted. He shrugged slightly and moved his coat onto his lap. He was going to have to stop wearing it if he remained in Miami much longer. Long black coats were only going to draw attention to him in a city like this. A shame, really. He liked the coat. "You and I have only had a few meetings, and the truck won't arrive at the location that you specified for some time. Nothing has been accomplished."

"You know that's not true, Careles," Hayes smiled as he turned around. "Your little cat and mouse game with my security forces has been impressive enough on its own. You shouldn't have been able to get past them, not as many times as you have. If I didn't call you for meetings, I might never see you. You're practically a ghost."

"I am flesh and blood like anyone else," Nico said. "How long are you expecting me to be your guest? I'm not much of one. Last night was a reminder of what I knew all along—never eat anything you haven't cooked yourself. Same with not drinking anything that isn't sealed."

"You're very paranoid, Careles. I like that about you. That's why I think you and I can work together for our mutual benefit."

"I have to say, I don't see what's in it for me," Nico said, rising. "You were the one who had a transportation issue. I resolved that for you. Nor do I know that any continuing benefit can be brought from my end. Even you have to admit that when the chaos that is currently dominating the Pittman Industries settles, I will not be as useful."

"You are underestimating your own value. It's not what you had access to alone. You have yourself to offer."

"If that is a come on, I'm definitely not interested," Nico told him, going to the door.

Hayes laughed. "Of course not. You have skills that are of interest to a man in my business. Pittman was a fool. Having someone like you in his organization was worth far more than he was paying you, and he should never have thrown you away like he did."

"Doesn't it make you wonder what I must have done to get fired by him?"

"Pittman is a lunatic and a fool. That's all the answer I need. Besides, I don't have a wife," Hayes said with a smile. Nico's stomach twisted again, and he had to stop and wait for that moment to pass. "Sit down. We have a lot to discuss."

The door opened, and Hayes shot a dirty look in the direction of the man who'd just entered. "Boss, we got a problem."

"I sent you across the country. What the hell are you doing here?"

"There was this woman. She had a team. Three people working with her. Hit the truck with a rocket launcher, shot the driver, took the cargo," the man said, and Hayes frowned. "They were waiting for us. She said she knew who you were. She didn't care."

"Who was this woman?"

"I don't know. She had long hair. It was kind of dark. People called her... Natalie, I think," the man said. He held up his hand. "Look what that bitch did to me!"

Nico had a hard time believing that Santino would have done that, but she was always surprising him. It wasn't something that he liked, though he supposed that it had sold the act to this man. He wished she hadn't. This was not a path that she wanted to go down.

Hayes looked at him. "How could she have gotten a hold of the route?"

"Perhaps you have a leak."

"Or maybe you're someone other than who you say you are."

"I never lied about my name," Nico assured him and then shrugged. "You could have a problem in your organization. What did the woman look like other than dark hair? Short? Tall? Eye color? Any distinguishing marks? How did she dress? What kind of a weapon does she carry?"

"She wore glasses. High boots. Had a forty-five."

"Any thoughts, Careles?"

Nico took out his tablet and ran a quick search. He held the tablet out. "Anything like her?"

"That's her. That's the bitch."

"Get out," Hayes said, looking over the picture. He took a sip of his drink. "Natalie Rice. I think I've heard a few things about her. How did you know about her?"

"All you really need to know is that I could probably find her."

"Do it. You have twenty-four hours, and after that, I'm going to give _everyone _an incentive to find her. And don't think that I have forgotten that you had that route. I'd hate to think that our fledgling partnership was going to be ruined because you have a thing for the wrong woman."

"Natalie Rice is no friend of mine."

* * *

><p>"How are we doing?"<p>

"With what?"

Micheal looked at Fi, and she shrugged. She wouldn't admit it, but she was tired. She had to be taking this hard. He hadn't forgotten the way she'd reacted to the threats against that football player's sister or the model that was about to be shipped overseas to become a sex slave or the way she'd reacted when she heard what Hayes wanted to transport. She took things like this personally, and all of these women—he knew that she had to be almost boiling over by now. Any of the ones she talked to would just push her further over the edge. "With the women."

"Everyone has had a chance to shower and change. Dani and I got water into all of them, food into most. Some of them are sleeping. We have names and locations for a lot of families, but we can't get to all of them. I don't know how they pulled these girls from all over the world, but very few of them speak the same language. About the only thing they have in common is what those sick bastards did to them."

"I know, Fi," Micheal said, touching her arm gently. "We can't undo what happened to them. We can't even promise them that they won't get hurt again. All we can do is keep them safe, get them back to their family, and do our best to make sure that Hayes pays for what he did."

"Oh, he is going to pay, Micheal. Make no mistake about that. He is going to pay. If Careles doesn't do it, I will. I swear I will. I should have done this before."

"Then these girls would probably have died in that cargo container, Fi. We need to know all of what he's doing. Everything he's been up to. We need to make sure that he doesn't have more women like these ones stashed somewhere else. We know he has prostitution rings. All of that has to stop when he goes down, and killing him won't get us that."

"It'll feel good," she said. She let out a breath. "I hate it when you're right, Micheal."

"Careles is in. He'll get everything we need. We just have to be patient."

"I hate being patient. Especially when I see this."

Micheal nodded. He didn't like having to wait to deal with Hayes, either. He wanted the information, and he wanted to be the one getting it. Careles was doing a good job, and the man was dedicated, but Micheal would still rather do it himself. If that was an option, he would have. "Have you heard from my mom yet?"

Fiona pointed across the room. His mother was putting blankets over some of the girls on the cots. "She and the others got here while you and Sam were building the wall. You wouldn't have heard them. We sent Virgil and the annoying one out to get more supplies while the boy helped with the cots and the girl got towel duty. She complained until she saw Marta's back. After that, she got really quiet. She's been helping ever since. I think she made friends with Marta's younger sister. They all think you're building the wall to help keep them safe."

"That thing is flimsier than a sheet of paper, and it's really just there so that the big scary men don't traumatize the women."

Fiona laughed. "I know. But it means a lot to them, all the same. Thank you, Micheal."

She wrapped her arm around him and leaned against his chest for a moment. He smiled down at her for a moment. "Any other unannounced visitors?"

"Careles hasn't stopped by, if that's what you're asking."

Micheal nodded. "We probably won't see him here. He's good enough to elude most tails, but he's not the type that would risk exposing everyone here, no matter how good he is at evading surveillance."

"He went to your mom's when he might have been compromised."

"He'll be under even higher scrutiny this time. The leak that enabled the theft puts him at risk. Until he can produce 'Rice' and prove his loyalty, he's going to be in danger. He can handle it, and he'll contact us when he's ready to set up the next part."

"I know."

"Get some rest, Fi. We're going to need to take shifts."

* * *

><p>"Sam?"<p>

He looked up, seeing Doctor Santino standing there, rubbing her arms. It wasn't cold in here. They'd made sure of that. After all those girls had been through in that storage container, the least they could do was control the temperature of the building they were keeping them in. They had clothes and food and water and blankets, but nothing could make up for the kinds of things those poor girls had been through.

"Something wrong?"

"I know I have to leave with one of you, and I know it's late, but I just need—as a therapist, sometimes I have to recognize that I need time and space to let go of what I heard in order to be able to help others. I am on the edge right now. I need to... I need to leave so I can break down."

"Break down? Doc—"

"Decompress. Let it out. Compose myself again. Even if you just walk me to the end of the block, then I can take a moment and let it out. I'd do it in my office if I was back home or I'd go out for drinks with Jeanette—but she's in Barcelona, and I'm here under guard, so walk me out?"

"Yeah, sure," Sam said, getting up. The last thing he wanted was to be around a woman who was planning on breaking down. No, he really didn't want to see that. He hated seeing any woman cry. "You want me to wake your friend? Donnally?"

She blinked. "I got the feeling none of you liked him."

"Truth is, we don't. Thing is, though, you need a breakdown, you should have someone to hold you. Donnally's your man, so let's wake him and make him do his job."

"It's not his job to take care of me," she said, shaking her head. "Don't wake him. Let him sleep. I don't want to cry all over anyone. I'm not going to. I just need some air."

Sam shook his head. It sure as hell _should _be Donnally's job to take care of her, and if it was just about her, Sam would drag his butt out of bed no matter how much she tried to protest. Thing was, though, that man probably had no idea how to handle this—no, they all knew he didn't because he'd walked into the women's section looking for Dani and spooked them all—so he wouldn't be much help. That didn't mean he shouldn't be there for her. Guy was decent enough that he'd want to be, but Sam actually liked that she didn't want him there. A part of her knew what the rest of them did, that Donnally wasn't right for her.

Sam walked her out, locking up behind them, and carefully led them down to the street level. "We'll go to Maddie's. The street's too exposed, and I know she has beer. That'll help you unwind."

Dani nodded, and Sam hurried her into the car. He had a feeling she was closer to that edge than she had let on, that she'd waited as long as she could to come to him, and she'd probably end up letting it all out in the car. Still, he made sure he didn't take a direct route and watched for a tail all the way to Maddie's. He didn't think anyone had followed them.

She got out of the car without saying anything, and Sam knew that he had to get a beer into her, quickly. Get her to a chair, let her talk it out, make sure the beers kept coming—he hoped there was enough at the house. No one had gone shopping for anything here, and the supplies had been moved over to the warehouse where they were staying.

"I'll just grab us a couple beers," he said as he let her into the house through the kitchen. "Go ahead and sit down. We'll just see what Maddie has in here—hey, look at this. A bottle of wine. She must have been planning some kind of special dinner because she doesn't usually have this kind of thing around."

Dani didn't comment. Sam took out a couple glasses and set them in front of her on the counter, next to the wine. She caught sight of the bottle and picked it up, her eyes widening. "This is my favorite. And you can only get this from this little place in Little Italy and half the time they deny they have it."

"Unless you ask them for it in Italian. Then they never deny it, but you probably won't get out of there without at least one kiss for some reason," Nico said, and Santino looked over at him with a smile. "If that never happens to you, then you'll have to buy it on your own from now on."

"It is so good to see you on your feet again."

"I told you it was temporary," Nico said, shaking his head when Sam tried to offer him a glass. "I'm surprised that you fell for Sam's charm, though, Doctor. I thought you knew better than that."

She laughed, crossing to the other room and wrapping her arms around Nico. "You know it had nothing to do with that. You wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of getting a bottle of my favorite wine and making sure it was here for me right now if you thought I was just falling for Sam."

Sam watched as Nico fought a smile. He started to take her hands off his waist, but then the floodgates opened. "Oh, Nico, I don't know how the hell they do it. I don't know how anyone can see that stuff and stay sane. It's not just the explosions and the shooting. I spent the afternoon with those girls, trying to talk to them, and the things I heard... What they've been through at the hands of these people, and what they went through _before _they were taken and loaded up in that cargo container... What if there wasn't someone there to blow up the engine and pull them all out? And what did I _do?"_

"You helped them."

She shook her head. "No. No, I don't mean that. I can listen, but I can't help. And that isn't even it. I smashed someone's hand with my foot today, and you know that isn't me—"

"Actually, I always figured that was a part of the reason you wore such impractical shoes."

She started laughing, shaking against him. Sam reached back into the fridge for a beer. He should probably walk away now, let them do this in private, but he kind of wanted to watch the show. "I think you should sit, Doctor. Sam, bring her that glass."

Sam picked it up and carried it over to them as Nico helped Dani into the darkened living room. She started talking. "I don't normally do this. I'm sorry. I didn't plan on crying on anyone. I was just going to get some air, but we can't be out on our own and that means no air, so then Sam brought me here, and if I'd had a bit of wine maybe I wouldn't have started crying on you. At least your coat can't really get soaked, right? It's a nice coat. I shouldn't ruin it. Who would you be without your coat?"

Nico gave her a look, sitting her down, and Sam passed her the glass. She drank from it for a moment, getting lost in thought. Sam looked at Nico, and he started to move away from Dani, but she grabbed a hold of his arm. "What? Where are you going?"

"I'm not leaving."

"You were."

"I need to talk to Sam, but I was not leaving," Nico corrected, and she tugged on his arm. He sighed and sat down next to her.

She set down the now empty wine glass. "You were right, Nico. I shouldn't have done this. I pulled it off, but I think it cost me more than I ever thought it would. It was for the good; I know that. Those girls needed help. They're going to need a lot of help. Years of counseling that I'm not really trained for. They need someone better than me. Especially since I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. Why did I think that was a good idea? Because I was angry with you? Because I _could? _Because danger is supposedly sexy?"

"Hey, danger can be _very _sexy," Sam said, pointing to himself. "I'm dangerous, and I'm damn sexy, too."

"Sam," Nico began, a warning tone in his voice. "Please refill her glass."

Sam rolled his eyes as he picked up the glass and went back into the kitchen. He filled it back up and brought the bottle back with him this time. Nico was talking quietly to her when Sam got back, and Dani had put her head on his shoulder. "It's not about the danger. If it was just about a thrill, there were other things you could have done. You could have called up Billy Rhodes and gone out on the track again if that was what you needed."

"So... why this?" she asked, taking the glass from Sam. She drank from it and shook her head. "Being mad at you, stubborn, frustrated with being under protection and guard? Is that it?"

"Maybe you're trying too hard to understand this."

"Understanding is what I do."

Nico nodded. "I know. The thing is, though, that when you get into a situation like this—something more like... war, there _is _no understanding it. Analyzing happens later. Everything is clearer when the smoke and dust clears, but most of the people are dead by then. In a situation like this, you act. You do what you can. You make the best choice, and when it's over, then you get to know if you made the right one or not."

"I had a chance to back out."

Sam glanced at Nico as she emptied her glass again. Nico shook his head, so Sam sat down, not refilling it. Dani sat up and did it for herself. She took a sip and closed her eyes, putting her head back down. "I had several chances to back out, and I didn't."

"Would you have been able to accept doing nothing to help those girls? If you had backed out, how much more would you hate yourself right now? You let the darkness in to do some good, to bring the light to them. It's never any easy choice, but sometimes it's what has to be done. The truth is that you didn't feel you had a choice. None of us did. None of us could walk away knowing what was happening, and you did what you could. You will continue to do that. That is who you are."

She tipped her glass up and drank until the wine was gone. "Then why do I hate myself so much right now?"

"With the darkness usually comes guilt."

"For myself, I wish I'd listened to you, Nico. Never gotten involved. But for those girls... I have to be glad I did," she said, leaning back against him. "You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine. I promise. Thank you for... this. For letting me get it all out."

"Even the therapist has to talk to someone."

She nodded slowly, barely moving, and Sam reached over to catch her glass before she dropped it. He set it on the table. "She held out for a long time, wore herself completely down. That's one hell of a woman there."

Nico shifted a little, moving to the side, carefully lowering her head to his lap instead, and letting her stretch out further. Sam lifted her feet up and put them on the couch. "She's strong, and in the morning, I have no doubt she'd pull herself together and go right back to those girls. This may be too much pressure for her, though. Hayes gave me twenty-four hours to find her, but I don't think that we can afford to wait that long."

"I'll call Mike. We'll get it set up. You stay right there."


	8. Dangerous Games

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 3,720  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: I think I had a bit too much fun with Dani impersonating Natalie in this section. I'm not going to apologize for that, though. ;)

* * *

><p><strong>Dangerous Games<strong>

"That is so adorable."

Micheal shook his head as Fiona leaned against the wall, looking at the couple on the couch. She smiled at the image that Sam had more or less arranged, though his friend had helped with that, apparently. "Fi, focus. We have far more people back in that warehouse than can be kept safe by Virgil and my mother alone. We have to get this ready as quickly as possible."

"I am focused. And I can enjoy this as much as I want," she said. Careles probably had no idea that he had dozed off with his hand touching her so possessively, and whatever dream Dani was having was apparently a good one—she was smiling in her sleep.

"You hardly sound focused," Careles said, opening his eyes slowly. "I noticed a voice was missing from this conversation. Did we opt not to include Donnally in this charade, then?"

Nico frowned as he saw where his hand was sitting and pulled it back, trying to readjust his position without waking Dani. Fiona smirked at him, and he pointedly ignored her. It didn't matter. Fiona already had a picture. She'd use it later.

"You sure about faking his death, too? It's a complication for the part with Hayes, and undoing a faked death isn't easy for the families. Her mother and ex-husband are still out there, right? Plus friends. A lot of people to convince, a lot of people upset after it's not true."

"We only need _one _person to believe it," Nico countered. "Or two. If the video is shown to Sam's source, he can pass the word to the man behind the attack on the team that it exists. If he wants to _see _it, then he's going to have to come out of hiding. Or send someone who is close enough to him to have the information we need."

Micheal nodded. "The thought crossed my mind, but Sam's source was unwilling to cooperate before. Why would he do it now? Sam couldn't get more from him, and neither could you."

"I could get him to do whatever I wanted, but none of you boys even asked me," Fiona reminded them, and they looked at her. She shrugged. "With you men, it's all about fear and who has the bigger package, but with me... I can do scared and vulnerable, I can do betrayed, I can even do junkie in fear for my life with a video that I shouldn't even have but will trade for any drugs I can get."

"Fiona could pull it off. If there's someone who might not be able to, it's probably going to be the amateur."

"I thought I was fine yesterday," Dani mumbled, lifting her head. She saw Nico and sat back abruptly, putting a hand to her head. "Did I drink a whole bottle? Please tell me I didn't."

"Three glasses. I'll get you some water," Careles told her, getting to his feet quickly.

Dani sighed. She looked at Sam. "How bad was I last night? I know I needed to decompress, but I don't know what I did. Other than drink. I know I drank. I can feel that much."

"It's not so bad. You got a bit teary, went off on Nico's coat, and fell asleep on him. No biggie," Sam assured her quickly. "Oh, and danger _is _sexy. Like me."

"Ugh," Dani moaned, and Fiona laughed. Sam looked offended. Micheal shook his head. Nico returned with the water and gave it to her. "Thank you."

"The amateur Sam spoke of was not you but Donnally. Not everyone can fake their death convincingly, and asking him to stay still when Hayes threatens you may be more than he can handle. The man does care about you," Nico told her. "Drugging him would be an option. You have a location for me to give Hayes?"

"Yeah, we got a place. Nothing's in position just yet," Sam agreed. "I don't know, Nico. I'd feel a lot better if we had more time to practice."

"So would I. So would everyone, but we have what we've got. We don't have to do this. We can let Hayes hunt for Rice and keep Santino under guard," Nico reminded him. "The situation with the Hawks hasn't changed. That side may be—it's possible there was nothing there to begin with, that Bobby Caldwell's accident was a coincidence."

"Or the only reason nothing else has happened is because you saw what was coming and pulled Donnally out. You probably pissed this guy off big time," Sam said. "Besides, if Hayes doesn't have Rice, you're at risk. And don't say something stupid like you don't have anything to lose or that it wouldn't matter."

"You don't have to worry about me, Sam. I've been taking care of myself for a long time now," Nico told him. He took out his phone and looked at it. "I should go. Let me know when everything is in place."

"Nico," Dani began, and he looked over at her. She looked uncomfortable, like she couldn't decide what she really wanted to say or didn't think she could say it. "Be careful."

"I'll be fine. I think I can buy us another couple hours. Have everything ready by then."

He left, and Dani shook her head. Sam looked worried as well. Fiona turned to Micheal. He was quiet—if he was feeling guilty, he _should. _This was his mess, his damn quest for the people who burned him that started all of this. Micheal picked up one of the blood packets. "Let's get this ready. Fi, you're going to need to do some coaching."

She nodded. "Dani, you have a cheating ex-husband, right? That should make this a _little _bit easier for you, trust me. Nothing like a rat bastard to make you feel like pulling the trigger."

* * *

><p>"Careles. You're almost late. That's not like you. You're also alone."<p>

"I told you that I could find her, not that I would bring her to you," Nico countered, shrugging. He noticed the other men in the room—Hayes had a larger security detail than usual, not a good sign. This could be dangerous, and it would have to be handled carefully. It might even require... lies. He didn't like that idea very much, but he didn't know that he had other options. He would see. He had no desire to compromise himself, and he did not like lying. Evasion was one thing, omission and misdirection as well, but an outright lie would be hard for him to do.

"Then you came, I assume, because you found her."

"I have someone watching a location that she is believed to be at," Nico said, thinking that he really shouldn't be the one in this position. It should be someone who did not have a problem with lying, who had the personality that adapted better to these situations—someone like Westen. Of course, Westen had been burned, most likely by the people who had arranged the burn notice for him in the first place. "What would you like to do with her?"

"Killing her is a possibility. Of course, I'd prefer to get my cargo back first, and I need to know how she found out about that route. You already know, don't you? That's how you knew to find her. Are you working with Natalie Rice?"

Nico glanced at the men approaching him. He could fight them, but that should be his last resort. Fighting made him appear guilty. The words could be phrased in a way that was not a lie and yet exonerated him in the eyes of the people around him. "I have not and never would work with Natalie Rice. However, the woman does bare a strong resemblance to another one that I know, one who worked closely with the Hawks and recently vanished along with her children."

"Now you believe the other woman—no, the other _identity—_was only a cover for Rice."

"It could be possible that they're the same person."

"She knows you, then? Trusts you?"

"Rice, I doubt, trusts anyone, but I could probably walk up to her without being shot first, if that's what you're asking."

Hayes laughed. "You never have a direct answer to anything, do you? I like that about you. Well, then, let's go. You will introduce me to the woman Rice is impersonating, and we will see about our cargo. After that... she should be eliminated, as a warning to anyone else who might be foolish enough to cross me."

Nico did not say anything. He was aware of the men behind him, knowing that they were not just there to protect Hayes from Rice. Nico was being watched very carefully. He would have to trust that Sam and the others had everything ready. He couldn't take any messages or warn them that Hayes was on his way. There was no going back now.

"I heard that Pittman and his wife are going to court next month."

"It will be ugly."

"I'm surprised that you chose to come to Miami instead of staying with her, given that he fired you," Hayes went on, and Nico looked at him. This choice of conversation was pointed, designed to keep Nico irritated, off-balance, and eventually provoke him. It was supposed to leave him angry, perhaps to have him act without restraint against Rice or perhaps to see if something slipped before then. Sam had already been pushing those buttons, and it should have worked for Hayes as well.

"I owe neither of them my loyalty, and my association there is done. Do you have any other questions?"

"Several," Hayes said, stopping to wait for the security detail to open the door. He waved Nico inside. "Your past has a lot of missing pieces."

Getting in the car now was a very stupid idea. Nico had no intention of trapping himself in such a small place with a bunch of armed men. "I thought you had the resources to fill them in. Unless there's a specific incident you have in mind?"

"A specific person."

"I already admitted the connection to the woman who could be Rice."

"No, this is someone you served with, as a SEAL."

Nico folded his arms over his chest. "Is this about you being infiltrated by Micheal Westen and his associate that goes by Chuck Finley half the time and Sam Axe the rest? Yes, I served with Axe. Years ago. He may have tried to make contact more recently. What are you really asking here? If I'm working with Westen and Axe?"

Hayes looked at him. "I have a hard time seeing someone as careful as you working with someone as sloppy as Axe."

Nico felt like strangling the other man with his tie, but he smiled instead. He was not meant for long term undercover operations. Infiltration was fine, sabotage, extraction, he could handle all of those. It was the constant lying and need to be someone that he wasn't that he didn't do. As long as he wasn't the point man, though, he was fine. At least all this time with the Hawks had kept him practiced in concealing his emotions and thoughts. All those players, their lifestyles, the things he'd made disappear without a word. It was just an extension of everything he'd done before, so none of his skills should have gotten rusty.

He felt badly out of shape and practice, though.

He shrugged. "Did you want to see Rice or not?"

Hayes thought for a moment, finally nodding and smiling. "Yes. Let's deal with Rice first, shall we? This business with Axe can wait."

* * *

><p>"He really looks dead," Dani said, looking down at Matt and shaking her head. The blood was fake, and he was unconscious, but he looked dead. She couldn't help staring at him. She couldn't pull her eyes away. They'd set it up so simply—all she had to do was stand there like she'd just fired the gun. She couldn't do the real thing, as much as she'd trained and tried. She just froze and couldn't pull the trigger, not with the gun pointed at a real person.<p>

"Dani, you need to stay with us," Micheal began, waving a hand in front of her face. "Remember, he is not dead. But you might be if you can't keep it together. I don't mean to be harsh. I just need you to tell me right now if you need us to pull out. We can forget this. It doesn't have to be done like this. You just need to tell us."

Dani blinked, shaking her head. "No, I'll be fine. I'm sorry. I got distracted for a minute, but I can do this. If I don't, Hayes might kill Nico, and that's not something I'm willing to let happen. Besides, you might get the guy going after the Hawks with this, too. There's too much at stake for me to flake out on you now."

"You want a drink? Rice would be celebrating, so it's not a big stretch, and it might help keep you calm."

"I think I've still got some of what I drank last night in me, so I will pass," Dani said, feeling sick again. She tightened her grip on the forty-five Nico had given her. "Do I really look that bad? Am I going to screw this up? Because if I am, then pull me. I don't know. Either way, I'm going to do the wrong thing, aren't I?"

"You will be on your own in a few minutes," Micheal said. "It'll just be you and Careles, and he should give you plenty of hints, but you'll have to trust him and go wherever he leads. If you think you can't, if you think you'll panic, then... we'll come up with something else."

"As much as it worries me, I'm sure that Nico has another way out if things go south. It'll be okay if you back out, Dani," Sam agreed. "Do what's right. What feels best."

"Uh, boys, we don't have that kind of luxury anymore," Fiona called through the headset. "Hayes and his team have arrived. Careles is with them. Looks like eight men total. Tension between our man and Hayes."

Dani looked at Micheal and Sam and took a deep breath. "I can do this."

They frowned at her, but she fired the forty-five at the ground where Matt was lying and nodded. She knew that was only a blank, but it was more than enough for her. Fiona's voice came through again. "Okay, they heard that. Two of the security men are headed up first. Sam, Micheal, unless you intend to make yourselves bodies, too, you need to get out of there."

"Just a second, Fi. Someone needs to handle the boys by the door." Micheal pushed Dani behind him and took her gun, switching the clip as he did. "Sam, you can go."

"You sure about this, Mikey?"

Micheal nodded, and then he fired two rounds through the wall next to the door and then another two to the other side. Men grunted and cursed, and Micheal smiled before handing the gun back to her. "You're sure?"

She was terrified, but she managed to nod and wave him away. She knew they had some special hiding place set up and they'd explained about how it wouldn't be found and couldn't be detected with infrared or anything like that, but she didn't remember how it worked right now. She couldn't really think about that right now.

"I told you to let me go first," Nico's voice was loud and annoyed. "Doctor Santino?"

She swallowed, using her best Rice voice as she spoke. "Don't play games, Nico. If you're here, then you know."

"Fine. Let's talk."

"Oh, come inside," she agreed, nodding quickly. She probably looked like a bobble head, and it was a good thing they couldn't see her. "We can have a nice chat."

"I am willing to talk face-to-face if I can have an assurance that you won't shoot me the minute I step inside the door."

"You want to talk about a partnership, Nico? I mean, it was half the reason that I found my way into your precious Hawks. I do so admire your work. We could have a truce if you're willing to hear me out. You're good at making things disappear, right? So you and I could have a real future together."

"I actually liked Doctor Santino."

"Please. She was a pathetic little therapist with two obnoxious kids and poor taste in men," Dani said, wincing because most of that was true. "Donnally was nothing, but you... Oh, the things we could do together..."

"You stole something yesterday—"

"And you want it back?" she asked, moving toward the side. "I'll tell you where your girls are. You just have to let me whisper it in your ear."

The door opened up, and she held her ground, pointing the gun at the door and waiting. A second later, Nico stepped into the entrance. She gave him a genuine smile, hoping it looked twisted like Rice's and not one of relief. Nico's eyes went to the floor and then back to her. "You killed Donnally?"

"He was a liability. Time to clean up and move on. I wanted something better, but the Hawks weren't going to get me close to Marshall Pittman. That would have been you. A shame about that player getting shot and ruining everything, isn't it? Or was it the divorce? Either way, you're out and that changed everything."

Nico nodded, moving closer to her. She held the gun on him, hoping she didn't accidentally shoot it again. These bullets were real. "Yes, it did, but if you really wanted a partnership, you would have asked first and stole later."

She grinned. "That's not how I work."

"Yes, you seem to be on the impatient side," he went on, getting even closer to her. She trailed him with the gun but didn't shoot. "If you'd waited a bit longer, you could have had a lot more."

"I didn't have the time to fix what Gabriella Pittman broke," Dani said, and she saw real emotion cross Nico's face. He reached over and disarmed her, pulling her back into a choke hold before she had even really processed that he was moving again. "Nico..."

He leaned into her ear. "Please tell me you have a vest on."

She yanked at his arm, trying to break the hold. "Yes. Let me go. I can make it worth your while. I promise."

"A promise from you would seem to mean very little," he said, and she frowned when she felt his hand on her stomach, going up toward her chest. She struggled harder, and he spoke in her ear again. "Relax, would you? I need to know where I need to shoot."

"No promises, then," she said, trying to twist away. "You can have... everything you want. I'll give you the money, and you can have everything else. Just promise me you'll let me go afterward."

"This isn't really about me," he said, and then his lips almost touched her neck. "Even with kelvar, this is going to hurt. Be ready for that."

"I think we should make it about you," Dani said, taking one of her hands away from trying to break free and touching his face with it. "We could be good together."

"But you stole from me. Meaning you'll answer to me," Hayes said, entering the room. Dani felt Nico let her go, and she was too busy getting her breath back to react badly to his arrival. She rubbed at her throat and stared straight at the _businessman _who was no better than scum. What he'd done to those girls, what he would have continued to do to them. He deserved to die for that. Life in prison wasn't enough. "You have a deal to offer me?"

She turned to Nico. "Forget him. You don't need another boss to hide behind. Be your own man. Be the boss. You have the skills. You don't need him."

Nico gave her a look, but she saw something in his eyes that made her wonder if she'd hit another nerve. Hayes cleared his throat. "The location of my goods?"

"I am not telling you that. That deal was for Nico, not you."

"Careles, I want that information," Hayes said, and Dani shook her head. She wasn't going to tell Hayes where those girls were. Not for anything. Nico knew that. She wasn't sure what his next play was going to be. When he raised the gun, she was almost relieved.

"I'll take it to my grave just to spite you," she said, addressing that to Hayes. She looked back at Nico. "Think about it. I have the initial funds to do whatever you want. We've been doing this dance for long enough. Aren't you at least... curious?"

Nico frowned at her, but this time he allowed her to move without actually using the gun. She couldn't let herself think about it. She just walked up to him and kissed him. It was nothing like she expected. She'd meant to do something short and desperate and probably even soulless, but when her lips met his, it became something completely different. The intensity of the attraction surprised her, left her feeling weak and wanting more as Nico slowly pushed her away. He stepped backward, looking about as stunned as she felt.

"I can see I'll need to handle this myself."

Dani looked over at Hayes. One of his bodyguards gave him a gun, and she tried not to panic. If he shot her, he'd probably do it in the head. It wouldn't be fake then. She was going to die. She didn't even have to fake her desperation this time. "Nico, _please."_

He raised the gun again, firing twice, and the impact knocked her back. She couldn't even breathe. He'd warned her that it would hurt, but she really hadn't understood. She knew she wouldn't be awake much longer. She felt like she was dying.

"A shame we didn't get a location from her first," Hayes commented. "I assume you can make all of this disappear?"


	9. Guilty Divisions

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 3,810  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Fallout is rarely pretty...

* * *

><p><strong>Guilty Divisions<strong>

"A shame we didn't get a location from her first," Hayes said, shaking his head. "I assume you can make all of this disappear?"

Nico gave him a curt nod. He looked down at the gun and thumbed the safety on before he put it behind his back. He walked over to Donnally and gave him a kick. Fortunately, the man was drugged and didn't react. He wondered if Glenanne had gotten an actual paralytic for him. He would probably have ruined it if he'd only been sedated.

"Is this going to be a problem for you?" Hayes asked, and Nico looked over at him. He was pointing to Santino's currently lifeless body. "You did seem... more involved than you let on."

"The last thing I need is another woman screwing up my life," Nico answered, not responding to the rest of it. He didn't have to. It deserved no response. The fact that he'd shot her should have been enough. Hayes was a paranoid man.

"Good. Then I'll leave you to handle this. We'll have to finish our discussion about Axe later."

"Are you going to want him to disappear as well?" Nico asked, circling around Donnally's body and pretending to consider what he'd need to remove it. The trainer was not going to be easy to move. He was a lot of dead weight—not literally, but still, this was more than Nico should be able to do on his own. "You want to leave me someone to help lift this one?"

"I'll need them to deal with the ones that got shot. You'll figure this out, I'm sure," Hayes said, smiling as he turned to leave. Nico watched him go, forcing himself to stay where he was. He couldn't afford to give anything away at this point.

A hand touched his back, and Nico caught the arm and twisted it back, letting go the minute he saw it was Sam. The other man rubbed his arm a little. "You're faster than I expected. I was ready for you this time, even."

"Adrenaline."

Sam nodded. "Fiona says they're down at the car. Donnally's fine. He'll come around in a while, probably won't be very happy with us."

"How bad is she?" Nico asked, looking over at Westen. The other man was pulling off her vest and checking her pulse. Nico had know that the bullets would crack her ribs and leave her badly bruised, but if he'd been off by even a little, the shots could have punctured her lung or caused internal bleeding.

"She's alive."

"The question is if she'll stay that way."

"Calm down, Nico. You did what you had to do, and she knew that. You heard her at the end. She asked you to do it."

Nico didn't acknowledge that one. "It shouldn't have been live ammunition. I don't care if she had a vest. What if I'd missed?"

"You're too good a shot for that," Sam insisted. "Besides, it had to be live rounds in case Hayes checked the gun. You knew they were. You didn't have to use that gun."

Nico turned away from him. He didn't think he could control his reaction if he looked over at Santino again. Westen spoke quietly. "Yes, he did, Sam. Hayes wouldn't have let Careles anywhere near him with a loaded gun. The only way he was going to be able to be the one to shoot her was if Hayes gave him one or she did. That's why we got her the vest. She knew she'd be hit with a real bullet."

"Knowing can't prepare you for the pain."

"She will live," Westen said. "The ribs are cracked, yes, and she's badly bruised, but she's not going to die."

"Hayes had damn well better," Glenanne said as she came into the room. She looked over at Santino and shook her head. Sam caught a hold of her before she could go after anyone. "Oh, I can't wait until we nail that bastard. He's going to pay. For all of this."

Nico watched her go over to the others gathered around Santino. He shook his head. He couldn't do this. The last place he should be was here. It didn't matter if Hayes was expecting him to clean up this mess. This was one thing that Nico could not fix. His presence was only going to make it worse when she woke up, and he would not do that to her. He had already done enough damage.

"Hey, Nico, about the whole taking care of Axe thing... Oh, hell. Where'd he go now?"

* * *

><p>"Ow."<p>

"Easy, Dani, don't sit up just yet. You're going to have to be very careful."

"I feel like... I don't think I can catch my breath," Dani said, struggling with the words. No amount of warning would have prepared her for that. It _hurt. _That didn't even do justice to how she felt right now. She was pretty sure the only thing worse was being in labor, but at least then she could breathe.

"It'll be like that for a while. The impact cracked several ribs, and we put tape around them. Stay put and take this. It'll help with the pain."

"What is it?" Dani asked. "I'm not—I'm not taking anything that's going to put me out like a horse. No. I'm... fine. I don't need anything like codeine or morphine or anything with an ine. Trust me, I know what those pills are. Just give me something over the counter. I'll manage."

"You're one tough lady. I'd be enjoying the happy pills and making margaritas to chase them down," Sam said, giving her a smile.

Dani shook her head. "That will kill you. The pain isn't that bad."

"She sounds like you, Micheal," Madeleine muttered, shaking her head in disgust. "All of you, pretending this stuff doesn't affect you. You got shot, woman. Act like it. It's not going to go away, and I swear, if I find you out of that bed, I'll drag you back there myself."

Dani managed a smile. Her chest ached, and she still couldn't get her breath, so laughing was pretty much out of the question right now, but she would be okay. She frowned. "Wait—we're back at the warehouse? What happened? Where's Nico?"

Micheal and Sam pushed her back down. "You need to sit still. Lie still. Whatever. Point is, you're not going to move around. You need to heal."

"Please tell me I did not get shot for Hayes not to believe it and do something to Nico," Dani said. "He didn't—he's fine, right?"

"Nico's fine."

"Then where is he?"

"Sam, Micheal, put those skills of yours to use and go find your friend. Fiona and I will take care of Doctor Santino," Madeleine insisted, pointing them toward the door. Dani smiled again, but she didn't like being stuck here, not knowing where Nico was or what was going on. She knew she had been out for a while, but she didn't know how long. Long enough for them to move her, long enough for them to tape her ribs, and long enough for Nico to disappear.

"We'll bring him back," Sam promised, and Dani nodded. She would feel better once she saw him. She didn't know what she was going to say—_thank you for shooting me so that a psychotic twisted bastard didn't kill me _or _thank you for being there so that I could pull off being Natalie Rice _or _I don't know what to say because a part of me thinks I should be mad at you _or _about that kiss..._

"I don't know why we ever needed to coach you," Fiona said as the "boys" left. She grinned. "That was some performance. If I could nominate you for an award, I would because that was something. In fact, I am so glad that we are keeping a copy of that around. I think you should watch it some time. We can make pop corn."

"Fiona, I am not so sure that showing Dani a video of her getting shot is a good idea."

"What? Mom got _shot?" _Lindsay demanded, coming out of the back room. "Shot? How did you get _shot? _I thought the whole idea was to keep you safe. All of us. And now you got shot? Why did we have to come all the way down here if you were going to get shot, too?"

"Mom got shot? What happened?" Ray Jay asked, and Dani winced. This was not how her children should find out about this at all.

"I was wearing a vest. I'm okay. It's a very long story, though."

"And we'll explain everything later," Fiona interrupted. "Right now, because of your mother's injuries what she really needs is some rest. Your mother is safe. You are safe. Everyone here is safe, and believe me, if you weren't, you'd know. I know the last couple of days have been hard on you, but we'll take a trip outside these walls after the boys get back."

"Like that makes it all better," Lindsay muttered, shaking her head. Dani reached out a hand to her, wincing when she lifted it up too fast. "Mom?"

"Moving fast is a bad idea. I... have a couple cracked ribs. Really, though, I'm fine. This should all be over very soon, and what happened today will help us get home."

"You had to get shot for that?"

"Yes. And for the girls in there. Doing what I did will keep all of us safe."

* * *

><p>"He'll come back, Sam."<p>

"Thanks, Mike, but it's not a question of him coming back. It's about him coming back... remotely whole," Sam said, shaking his head. He knew how hard his friend would take this kind of thing, and he knew that he wouldn't admit how much it effected him. That was Nico. Hell, that was Mike, too. The two of them were a lot alike. "I know he volunteered for this, but we had him shoot the one thing in his life that still matters to him. His head is not a good place to be."

"I don't doubt it," Mike said. "Look, Fi will edit the video and take it to your guy. We'll start handling the other side of this. We've left it alone for too long."

"I agree, Mikey, but as long as they were safe, it wasn't a big priority. Hayes is an immediate threat," Sam reminded him, looking around. "He's not here. Maybe we should go back to the warehouse."

"You're giving up that easily?"

"I just told them we'd bring him back to get out of there. Nico's not a man who lets himself be found. He'll stay away as long as he feels is right, and after shooting Santino, he'll be gone for as long as possible. He'll contact Hayes before he calls us, and Hayes just might kill him."

Mike looked around for a moment. "Let's think this through. We know someone tipped Hayes off to the fact that I was getting close to him. My cover got blown. So did yours. Fiona's. He had pictures of all of us together."

"Your burn notice people are keeping their distance, right? And even if they weren't, Nico has been careful. I don't know. It's not like it's not in his background, if Hayes can get a hold of those records—and he can if he's got any access to the stuff we think he does, those ties to the people who burned you. That means that he'd know that Nico served with me. Nico wouldn't deny that."

"So we may have to fake another death? Are you sure your friend is up to this?"

"He's had a rough time, and that was before he came here. He's not the type to give in, though, and once he's set his mind to something, he sees it through to the end, even if it kills him. That's what he does. He'll do what he has to; he'll get Hayes."

Mike walked away, thinking. A part of Sam had to wonder what he was thinking. Was Mike taking the blame for all of this? It was Sam's fault, really. He'd pulled Nico into this without thinking about the rest of it, and he should have. Mike had plenty of blinders on, and that meant that he didn't see beyond the burn notice. Sam should have made sure that Nico was up to this before he asked him to do it. His information hadn't been worth what Nico had done so far, and Nico knew that before he even started. He'd done it because he was a loyal man at loose ends, but he shouldn't have had to. They should have made sure that they kept Santino out of it, resemblance to Rice or not.

"That list of people with a grudge against the team. Did you have any time to work on it?"

"It's a big list."

"Careles could shorten it, I'm sure. He had some kind of suspicion when I spoke to him the other night, but he didn't have enough to act on it."

Sam sighed. "Well, that goes back to needing Nico around."

"Not necessarily. He'd narrow it down faster, but we're not idiots, Sam. We know how to analyze the situation, and we know how to prioritize. Hayes has taken up too much of my thoughts—everyone's thoughts," Mike admitted. "You think the people the most likely to do something against the team are the ones that own it, right?"

"Mike, you heard Nico admit what that bitch did to him. She let him think Pittman's daughter was his, used that to manipulate him for years. I want it to be her so that we can hurt her, pay her back for everything she did to him. Is it really her? Probably not. She would want the team intact so that she could make money off of it. I could see her wanting to get rid of Santino, though. If she had any idea how Nico feels about that woman, Gabby would want her out of the way. But she's more likely to fire her than kill her. She'd just use Donnally, so she wouldn't target him. I don't know anything about the other two, not enough to make a judgment call there. The one was a loud mouth, the other a quarterback. It's more like someone doesn't want them to win the playoffs, but—that's it, Mike. That's your motive. It's the damn playoffs. Nico said they hadn't made it there in years, and most people say that was because of that guy TK who would never have pulled it off without the counseling he got from Santino."

"Careles pinpointed the targets as people who lead, people who were the heart of the team."

"Exactly," Sam agreed. "Take out the star player. Then, when everyone's rallying around, strike another blow—shake up the quarterback. If the therapist is right at the the heart of things, her presence alone could have pulled everyone together and gotten the team united for the goal of fighting their way through the last few playoff games. The trainer everyone trusts helping her, push that right over the edge. They could still have won without TK, but not without everyone else."

"Awful lot of trouble to go through—risky crimes to commit with high penalties if this person got caught. Even if they're doing it all through middlemen, why the hell would playoffs be worth killing for?"

Sam shook his head. He wished he had an answer for that one. It would wrap it all up nicely. "I don't know. But Nico would. He'd know if there was anyone this thing fit or if I'm completely off-base here."

"Then we'll ask him," Mike said. Something buzzed, and he took out his phone, shaking his head as he read the message. "Fi. She says things are going to hell at the warehouse."

* * *

><p>"We're leaving."<p>

"Excuse me? Dani's not in any state to go anywhere, and you'd be going out of where we can protect you. I don't care if this place isn't pretty or comfortable, it is where we are. Those girls need to be watched over and cared for as much as the rest of you, and we are not abandoning them," Fiona began, shaking her head. Oh, this was the wrong button to push right now. She was always ready for a fight, and this one had been coming for a while now. "You're not going anywhere."

"I'm not staying with you people a minute longer, and none of the rest of them should, either. You _drugged _me. You got Dani _shot. _Who knows what you'll do to the next person. You people aren't saving or protecting _anyone. _You're after something, and you don't care who you hurt to get it, but I'm not going to let you put Dani or anyone else in the middle of this again," Donnally insisted. "We're leaving. It doesn't matter what you or any of the others say. Especially Nico. She should never have gotten hurt."

Fiona had half a mind to ask him if it was because he knew that his girlfriend had kissed Careles and that was setting him off right now, but the kids were standing right there, and they didn't need that particular detail. Careles was the one they needed to trust, and they weren't going to understand that shooting their mother had saved her life. Fiona wasn't entirely sure that _he _understood it, or he would be here now.

"Calm down and think about this, son," Virgil began. "None of us want to hurt you, but you're talking about putting everyone at risk, and we can't let that happen. We'll knock you cold and tie you to a chair first. You're not getting through this door."

Fiona took out her phone and sent a quick message to Micheal. Things were going to get ugly fast, and she knew that she could handle Donnally, but there would be a lot of damage control after she was done.

"Please, Mr. Donnally, don't start any fights," Lindsay began. He looked at her, shaking her head. "No, I'm not scared. Well, I kind of am, but I don't want a fight. Mom shouldn't go anywhere, and I don't want to leave those girls behind, either. Miriana doesn't know much English, but we... talked. These girls were _rescued. _I know that everything is crazy, and I can't believe Mom got shot, but these people can't be all bad because they've been helping us and the girls."

"Lindsay's right," Ray Jay added. "We don't want any trouble. I don't know how or why Mom got hurt, but it seems to me whatever's out there has to be a lot worse than what's in here."

"You want to know why your mother got hurt?" Donnally asked. He looked at Fiona. "You didn't tell them, did you? Of course not. If they knew, they'd be asking for the same thing I am. Well, I'm not going to lie to them. I'll tell them why. I'll even tell them who—"

Fiona couldn't wait any longer. She slammed her fist right into Donnally's jaw, knocking him back. She spun around with a kick to his leg, forcing him to the ground. She could almost hear Micheal saying something about flashy fight moves almost always being less effective yet strangely convincing. She wasn't really trying to fool anyone, but she knew that if she didn't try and hold herself back, she'd do real damage. She wouldn't mind killing him—he annoyed her that much—but she wasn't trying to send that message to the kids or the girls who could probably hear at least part of this.

She put a foot on Donnally's chest, pushing down on his ribs. "Stay put and shut up. The last thing we need is you scaring everyone. You don't have the whole story, and without that, you don't get to say a word."

"Wow," Ray Jay said, his eyes wide as he stared at Fiona. His sister smacked him, and he managed to close his mouth.

"Can you teach me to do that?" Lindsay asked. "Oh, teach all of the girls here. They could use self-defense classes."

"Are you kidding me?" Donnally demanded. "Get off of me, you crazy—"

"Don't finish that sentence," Fiona warned, digging in her heel. He grunted, reaching for her foot. His hands closed around her ankle, and she let him think he had her, let him twist her foot to the side as he pulled her down, but her elbow landed right in his stomach, leaving him winded. She glared at him as he struggled to breathe.

"Enough," Dani said, and they looked back at her. Maddie was holding her up, and Fiona wouldn't have expected that after the orders Maddie had given the doctor earlier. "It was my choice to come here. I trusted Fiona when she said Nico had sent her, and I trust her even more now. I trust Nico with my life. I got shot because of decisions I made knowing the risks, and as much as this hurts, I'd do it again. You can leave if you want, Matt, but my family stays here with the people I trust and where I can continue to do some good. I can help these girls, and I'm not leaving."

"I don't understand, Dani. I don't know how you can trust _any _of them," Donnally said, sitting up and rubbing his jaw. Fiona wished she'd broken it. "Why do any of this? You don't have to be here. You'll kill yourself trying to help these people, and for what? For Nico?"

Dani shook her head. "You really don't get it, do you? Helping people is what I do. It's what I've always wanted. Yes, I didn't do it the same way back in New York, back with the Hawks, and I will probably never do anything like this again, but I needed to do this. If you can't accept that, then go. Don't think you need to protect me. I don't want you to. The people here might not have everything as black and white and clear cut as we do back home, but that doesn't make them bad people. I trust them. You should, too."

"I think you should lie back down now," Maddie told her. "We'll take care of this, but you need to rest."

Dani nodded weakly, letting Maddie guide her slowly back to the cot. Her children followed them, and Fiona looked back at Donnally. She punched him in the stomach and would have punched him again if someone hadn't pulled her off.

"Calm down, Fi," Micheal said in her ear. "Just let it go. He's not worth it."


	10. More Complicated

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 4,610  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: I owe Purple Lex for pointing out that Natalie's last name was Rice. I could have sworn I heard Ford when I watched the episode (and it was recently, too), but I was wrong, so it's been fixed. :)

* * *

><p><strong>More Complicated<strong>

"I think I would have killed him."

"Probably," Micheal agreed, trying to decide if Fiona was in a mood where she should be held or where she needed space. This had been building since her first meeting with Donnally, and really the only surprise had been that it took this long for it to happen. He'd almost been _asking _for it the entire time, even if it was out of some misguided need to protect Santino or just the affection he had for her, he'd definitely made a nuisance of himself.

"Oh, he made me so mad," she said, her hands balling into fists. She was getting to the point where she needed to move, to pace and think it out, but she wasn't quite there yet. She was somewhere in between, still very much in his space and trying to stay there. "I want to turn him loose and tell him to take his chances. He doesn't deserve help."

"Not everyone we help is going to be the type that accepts it or understands it. They don't understand the choices we make, and they're lucky not to have to make them. Let them have their vision of the world, Fi. It's not real, but it comforts them anyway," Micheal told her, running his hand down her arm. She sighed and put her head against his chest. "I thought you'd be happy. This pretty much ends the thing between Donnally and Santino."

Fiona made a face. "As much as I hope it does, she might take him back when he apologizes—and he will because he's a good person and doesn't want to lose her and even misguided fools can be sweet sometimes. I just want him gone. He pisses me off, and I need him _gone."_

Micheal nodded. Keeping the two of them separate was going to be a problem. They were already stretched too thin, and someone had to keep watch over their people. They'd left it less than secure today because they'd had to, not because they really could afford to. "Sam and I had a talk earlier—"

"When you should have been finding Nico?"

"Fi, bringing Careles into that particular mess would only have added fuel to the fire," Micheal shook his head. They hadn't intended to tell Santino's children that she'd been shot, and if they found out that the man who'd done it was the one who was responsible for their security, all trust would be lost. Donnally had to keep his mouth shut. Maybe they had better drug him until the rest of this was resolved. "No, we were discussing how to end the Hawks part of our situation. We need to get those people home, and since Sam thinks he's figured out the reasons, so we just need Careles to give us our target."

Fiona sighed. "I can't forget the look on his face after the shooting. I saw that look on your face before, when you thought I died in that fire. It—Even with everything we've said, all of Sam's not-so-subtle hints, I don't think that he had any idea how strongly he felt about her until that moment when he had to shoot her, and I'm surprised he pulled it off."

"You do what you have to to protect the ones you care about," Micheal said quietly. She looked up at him, and he nodded to her unspoken question. He'd done plenty to protect her in the past, and he'd keep on doing it. As bad as they were at this... relationship they had, he couldn't let her go.

"I have the video. It's edited, but there's no way anyone will know that. We can take it to Sam's source right now. If we can't have Nico pick out who this guy is, at least we can start the process of drawing him or his guy out. We need to do it. We have to. The sooner that man is out of here, the better."

Micheal nodded. "We'll get to that."

"Micheal, you know that this shouldn't wait, and if you're going to—"

He cut her off with a kiss, and she grabbed hold of him, always an equal match in anything they did. It was always a fight, always some kind of battle, and neither of them really won but they didn't seem to lose, either. They just kept going, kept fighting, and that was what made them who they were together.

"My obsession with my burn notice blinds me to a lot of things, Fi. I keep pulling more and more people into it... My family. Yours. Sam and all his lady friends. That man Jesse that we burned. Careles and everyone he was protecting. I know I don't always listen, but you still try and make me see past it, see the whole thing. You and Sam. If I didn't have the two of you..."

"I know, Micheal," she whispered. "I know."

* * *

><p>"You are efficient."<p>

Nico looked over at Hayes, not saying anything. He didn't know what he was supposed to be efficient at—killing or cleaning up or being punctual—but he didn't like the word, didn't like the idea behind it, not right now. "What did you want to see me about?"

"Were there problems? You don't sound pleased."

"I rarely am pleased. We're not here to discuss my moods. I don't like wasting time," Nico said, looking over at the security by the door. New faces again. Not really a good sign, either.

"They were all liabilities," Hayes explained, and Nico nodded. He'd figured that the men Westen shot had been disposed of, the same with the passenger from the truck, but to get rid of the men who had done the disposal... If Hayes was cleaning house, Nico was on that list. "We should talk about some of the others. I liked the way you handled that mess yesterday, and I think you can handle this one for me."

"That depends on what it is."

"You asked if I wanted Axe to disappear."

Nico waited. He didn't feel like arranging another 'death.' He didn't know that he could pull the trigger again, if that was what Hayes wanted. He had given up that life for a reason, and he didn't want to go back to it. "You could hire any of a dozen killers off the street to deal with him. You don't need me if that's what you want."

"None of them would get close to him, despite his weakness for mojitos. Westen is too careful for that. You said you knew he'd tried to get into my organization. What I don't know is why. Does he intend to play Robin Hood with me? Steal money from me for his poor, impoverished clients? Find a way to arrest me for my crimes since the police never seem to be able to do anything about it? Take over my organization for himself? He is unpredictable. Who knows what he's really after?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Oh, definitely. I want him to go to his grave knowing he'll never get what he wanted," Hayes said with a smile. "You can contact Axe. Offer him help. Tell him you're where his friend wanted to be. He'll jump at the chance to use your connection to me."

"Or I could have already infiltrated your organization knowing what Axe and Westen wanted all along, gaining your trust, such as it is. Is this a test, then? I don't know that I care to be tested. I've had enough of tests. Enough games. What is it you really want?"

"I'd like to know whose side you're really on, to start with."

"It amuses me that you think you'd get an answer to that one. If I was not on your side, I should lie and say I am, then do whatever it is you want me to do to prove that I am. If I were on your side, I would say the same thing. I don't have the patience for this today. You know what the answer is going to be, so why are we having this discussion?"

"You're an incredible resource, Careles. It would be a shame to lose you if you are working with Westen and Axe."

Nico shrugged. "I can't reassure you. I should have already done that, but if what happened with Rice wasn't enough, I believe nothing will. I'm not going to do everything you say or obey every rule. I come and go as I please. I do things as I see fit. If you can't accept my methods or terms, we can't work together. And if you try to kill me, I'll defend myself and I see you as the one dying, but that's my take on it."

Hayes laughed. "And that is why I like you. I do want to know what Axe and Westen are up to, but that can wait. First, I have another task that I'd like you to handle. It would seem your former employer is looking into the damage to his truck. He should know better, but I doubt a simple call from you would change his mind."

Nico had thought that the primary concern of anyone still with the Hawks would be the missing staff and team members, but he shouldn't have been all that surprised. Someone would have come looking eventually. If they were at all connected to the threat against the team, they might have come faster, thinking the attack on the truck was connected to the disappearance of the others. "Exactly what do you expect me to do?"

"That's for you to decide. You're the one that wants to choose his own methods and make his own rules. I want it dealt with, but I don't really care how," Hayes went on. "I have been looking into the purchase of Pittman's transportation companies. I rather like the idea of having my own. Messing with Pittman, of course, has its benefits."

Nico nodded. He should be more concerned with the damage headed the way of the man he owed his life to, the man he'd given so many years of his life to, but he was finding it hard to. So much had changed in such a short time, and Nico no longer knew where he stood or where he was going. It was a dangerous place to be.

"I'll take care of it."

* * *

><p>"It should have been Fiona."<p>

"Not again, Sam. If you can't stop whining, I guess we won't stop for lunch at your favorite restaurant," Maddie warned, and Sam looked over at her. He saw the look in her eye, and yeah, that was definitely a _no mojitos for you_ one. She was getting annoyed, and Maddie was not a woman to be messed with. Mike got his scary side from her, whether he admitted it or not. "Fiona is taking the tape to that guy, and Virgil and Mike stayed back to watch the girls."

"Lucky Mike," Sam muttered. Maddie gave him a dark look, and he sighed. He'd thought it would be easy being the one in the sun with the Santino kids, but they were pretty damn quiet and no fun at all. Plus, they were _shopping. _He didn't like this whole shopping thing. If it was a beautiful woman showing him her latest purchases, that was one thing, but two kids who were really down after their mother got shot who didn't even seem to have the energy to argue over the clothes? Yeah, not fun.

He'd tried interesting the boy in some of the beach babes walking around, but he didn't even seem to notice them. All his sister seemed focused on was finding the other girls something to wear that wouldn't make them feel like "objects," and with the styles in Miami, she wasn't having a lot of success there.

"It's shopping, Maddie. This is so Fiona's department."

"We couldn't put off getting those poor girls more clothes any longer. We need to be able to take care of them, and groceries aren't all of it," she said, stopping to light up a cigarette. She took a drag and looked around. "Lindsay, honey, I think you might be trying too hard here. What about these? Most of the time no one younger than me would be caught dead in them, so you can hardly call them objectifying."

Lindsay gave the mumu a look and then turned to Maddie. "So we put them in giant tents?"

"Linds, what about those?" Ray Jay asked, pointing to a long sundress. It wasn't form-fitting, just a one-size fits all number that would work for any of the girls back at the warehouse, his sister, his mother, _and _Fiona. "It's even got a lot of different colors."

"That works for me," Sam said, taking out his wallet. He'd been meaning to ask Nico for a bit more of an operational slush fund, but then his friend had admitted that he wasn't working for Pittman anymore, so that money had probably dried up. Last thing Nico needed was them taking all of his savings on top of everything else. "Go buy the entire line, sweetie. Everything in the back, too."

She nodded, taking the money and gathering up the dresses. She went to the counter and started talking to the woman there. Sam turned to the boy, about to ask him how he knew about women's clothes, when the kid backed right into him. "That's Xeno."

"Kid, if you need a xerox, I'm sure we can find one, but that's not something we're looking for today, and you're not going to be copying or faxing anything, so—"

"No, that's Xeno," Ray Jay said, shaking his head. "He works for that guy. Nico. He's been at our house before. Linds, are you... Crap. I think he's coming toward us. That was the guy Nico always had watch us when something was wrong. He could have recognized us."

"Aw, hell," Sam muttered. The last thing he wanted to do was tell Nico that someone he trusted was involved in this attack against the team. "Get inside, we'll see if he passes, and if not, we'll go out the back. Go. Stand by your sister and Mike's mom, okay?"

Ray Jay nodded, going to the back with the others. Sam put a hand on his gun and waited, trying not to look out of place. Casual. He was just a bored man waiting for the women he was with to quit shopping already. That was it.

He watched the big man with the braids in his hair get closer, glancing toward the others. They were getting the clothes, which was good because Sam really couldn't afford to pay for them twice. The saleslady was bagging them up, while Maddie tried to keep them calm. He nodded to her, and she forced a smile.

The man got closer, but before he reached the point where Sam might have to do something about him, he stopped, turning around. Sam waited, moving closer to get a bit of the conversation.

"Boss?" Xeno asked, and Sam frowned. It couldn't be that easy, could it? The guy meeting his boss in broad daylight where the kid had just happened to pick him out of the crowd? "What are you doing here?"

Nico put his arm around the much larger man. "It's time we had a talk, Xeno."

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, Mike, if anyone else had seen that, they'd have the wrong idea," Sam told him as they walked up to his mother's house. He didn't want anyone overhearing this conversation—he knew that was part of what went wrong yesterday—those walls were way too damn thin. It couldn't happen again. They had to keep one of their people sedated so that he couldn't run off at the mouth any more and so that Fiona wouldn't kill him, and the mess with the two of them meant rearranging guard shifts and a whole lot of walking on eggshells. They were already short-handed, and they didn't have the time or the people to reassure everyone in that warehouse. The girls still didn't trust any of the men, and with Santino injured, they were almost back to square one. If the kids heard that Nico had shot their mother or that he'd pulled Xeno away earlier, they wouldn't see it as protection.<p>

"I get it, Sam. I'm not going to argue that. I'm here. We can discuss the next step. Fiona gave our guy the video, but that was only a few hours ago. This Xeno person was probably here before then. The question... is... why."

Something was off. Micheal stopped, holding up a hand and pointing to the garage. Sam nodded. He took out his gun and got in position next to the door. Micheal readied his own gun and went to reach for the door handle. The door swung open, and Micheal found himself looking at a gun.

"Your perimeter still sucks. I assume that's because you pulled most of it over to the new location, but I wasn't the only one who breached it," Careles said, lowering the gun and pointing across the room.

Micheal winced as he saw the man tied to the chair. "Jesse. My mother's new tenant."

"You forgot to mention that your mother had someone living in her garage while you ran protection details out of here?" Careles asked, shaking his head. "I'm starting to think that Hayes is right, and you are sloppy."

"Hey, enough with the name calling, and since when do you carry a gun?"

"I don't. Xeno does. Did."

"Who the hell is this guy, Mike? Sam? When he showed up, I thought he was here because he was the one that burned me," Jesse said, rubbing his head. "Would have had him if that big guy hadn't stepped in, and after he lets that guy try and beat on me, he takes him out himself. Then me. Who the hell are you working with?"

"You okay, Nico?"

"I am out of practice, Sam. I guess I'm lucky that Xeno seems to be a loyal man," Careles admitted. He went over to the chair and sat down. "You surround yourself with interesting people. Another burned spy. Is this a self-help group?"

"You going to start leading it?"

Careles laughed. "Again with that, Westen. You don't let go of an idea once it's in your head, do you? Even if I was a spy, I am clearly not qualified to lead anyone. Considering the current mess we find ourselves in, things should not be left in my hands."

"Are you here to kill me then?" Sam asked, sitting down next to him. Jesse watched them both, silent, trying to assess the situation. The back and forth would surprise a normal person, but he was a trained operative. He was waiting for more, waiting for a chance to make his move.

"Are you planning on reading that one in on all of this? Because if you're not, we should stop talking," Careles said, looking over at Jesse.

"I'm burned. Who's going to listen to me?" Jesse countered. He lifted his hands, struggling with the bonds a little. Micheal looked at Sam. Sam looked at Careles.

"You'd be surprised. It just takes the right information. Right, Westen?"

"Right," Micheal agreed, again getting the impression that Careles was far more than just Sam's friend the former SEAL. The man was trained and connected, and chances were, unlike the rest of the people in this room, he still had people on the inside who would talk to him. If he survived this, they might not be, but if Sam had contacted him sooner, then maybe Micheal could have avoided getting involved with Strickler and Gilroy and Simon and anyone else on that list. "Jesse is only interested in the man who burned him. The rest of our conversation will mean little to him."

Careles shook his head, and Micheal swore he knew that they had been behind what happened to the counter-intelligence agent. Either the man was good, or he knew more than he should. Sam looked over at his friend. "We might even need him. If I gotta be dead for the next bit, it's really going to cramp our style."

"No. The good news is that Hayes claims to want to know what you're looking for so that he can make sure you don't get it... before you die," Careles answered. He slipped out of his coat stiffly, following it with the suit jacket and rolling up his sleeves. "I don't know. I know Hayes is playing games with me, but I'm not sure to what end. I can't see it."

"You feeling okay, Nico?"

"That is a very stupid question, Sam," Careles told him. "Xeno should be waking momentarily, and it will be time to have a conversation with him. You are good at breaking people, I assume. It won't be easy."

"The kids said that this guy is the one you used to protect them any time something went wrong," Sam began. "You sure about this?"

"I don't _like _it. You are looking at the man most people consider my second-in-command. I told you what I had was compromised. I don't know how badly, but if Xeno is here, it could mean that everything fell apart back there. It could also mean that Pittman demoted my senior staff out of spite and the man is just doing the petty task he was given. It's hard to say at this point."

Careles was right. This wasn't good. Micheal didn't like it. If the compromise went as high as the man under Careles, they couldn't send any of the people they were protecting back. They needed to know that it would be safe, but if the man behind the attacks had gotten to the number two man, then everyone else was probably in on it as well. If Careles was going back, he'd have a whole house to clean, but without his return, even after they eliminated the big threat, several small ones would remain.

"Look," Sam said, glancing at the man who was starting to come around, "we think we figured out a way to narrow down the guy behind the attacks on the Hawks even without the video or your guy here. This guy is someone who has a beef against the team with a specific bent. The playoffs. That ringing any bells for you?"

Careles thought for a second. "Maybe."

Sam pointed a finger at him. "Don't get all evasive and hedge with me, Mister. I at least know when you're doing that. You're not saying something, and I want to know what it is."

"I'm tired. I'm your biggest liability at the moment. Lay off for a couple hours, and I'll have a clearer head," Careles said, picking up his coat and jacket.

"Go see her, Nico. She's worried about you, and I'm thinking she has a right to be."

* * *

><p>"What happened to Donnally?"<p>

"We had a slight disagreement," Fiona said with a smile, admiring her handiwork again. She should have done more, but Micheal had talked her out of it. She could hit the trainer now, she supposed, but what fun was it if he wasn't awake to feel it? "He has a big mouth."

Careles looked at her. She shrugged. "Should I ask how you knew where we were or how you got in here?"

He shook his head. "No, and if you tell Sam I wore this shirt, I'll let some very angry Libyans know who stole their weapon shipments."

"You have my complete silence," she agreed as Careles pulled the tacky Hawaiian number off and rolled down the sleeves on his dark shirt. She had been wondering if he had any colors in his wardrobe, but having seen the Hawaiian number—admittedly, that would look terrible on _anyone—_she didn't think that he should wear anything even remotely bright. "How do you know all of this, anyway?"

He just smiled at her, and she sighed. Spies. They were all the same. Oh, Sam claimed this man was just a SEAL buddy, but there was no way he was only a soldier. He had too good a mind for that. Even with the details Sam had given Donnally to shut him up, Careles didn't fit the picture of a career soldier. Besides, he reminded her way too much of Micheal.

"She's asleep now, but if you don't wake her, I'll kick your ass," Fiona warned him, and Careles gave her a look. "You know I could."

"Given that I had to take out a counter-intelligence operative without any sleep, yes, I'd agree," Careles said, absently rubbing his upper arm. "I can't stay long. I shouldn't have come."

"She would be out hunting you down."

"I know. She's stubborn that way."

Fiona watched him as he crossed over to the cot where Dani was sleeping. She was getting a very odd vibe off of him, and she didn't like it. She took out a phone and dialed Micheal's number. It went straight to voice mail. She sighed, moving around so that she could hear at least one conversation.

She watched as Careles combed through Dani's hair. She stirred and caught his hand. "Nico?"

"Don't move. You should be resting."

"I think I could say the same to you," Dani muttered tiredly. "You look worn out. And you lost your coat somewhere."

He shrugged. "It's Miami. It was hot."

"Didn't stop you before."

"You really like my coat, don't you?"

"It's... you. I don't know how else to explain it, Nico. You're not you without it," Dani said, letting out the deepest breath she could. "Which means you're not here as you, and that doesn't seem like a good sign."

He shook his head. "Don't over-analyze things. You're supposed to be resting."

She reached for his hand. "Thank you. And don't ask why. You know why. I'd never have been able to do that without you, and I'd also be dead if it wasn't for you, so please don't feel guilty. I don't want you to blame yourself for this."

He put her hand down over her stomach. She was still too tired and sore to really argue with him. "Stop worrying about me. You're the one that's hurt."

"But I'm not the one that is at risk," Dani countered, shaking her head. "You are. You're in the middle of so many things I don't know how you keep track of any of them."

Fiona felt the phone in her hand buzz and frowned. It was just getting interesting. She wanted to know what Careles would say to that. She'd asked Micheal that before, and all he did was evade. Speaking of Micheal, she thought as she answered the call. "Micheal. Busy day?"

"Fi, if this is about leaving you with Donnally, you know we're short-handed, so you'll have to live with it."

She sighed, but she had to smile when she saw Dani yawn and Careles pull the sheet back over her. That was better. Now if one of them would just talk about that little kiss... "Actually, I called because something seems to be off with our undercover man."

"Careles? He's there? Sam told him to go see Santino, but I didn't think he would."

Fiona watched as Careles kissed Dani's forehead. Her smile fell as she figured out what was bothering her. "Damn it. It makes sense now. He didn't come here to make sure she was okay. He's saying goodbye."


	11. Old Loyalties

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 4,583  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: I will just say that having to reorganize a kitchen does not make posting fic possible. Yeah. I hate my kitchen.

* * *

><p><strong>Old Loyalties<strong>

"So, you're the number two man, huh?"

Xeno glared up at Sam. "Let me out of here."

Sam shook his head. "Can't. We haven't finished our chat yet. We have a few things to discuss. So I'll repeat the first question. What are you doing in Miami?"

"Where's Nico?"

Sam would give the man this: he certainly _seemed _loyal. He wouldn't answer any questions. The only thing he did—besides demand to be let go—was ask where Nico was. That was after Nico had knocked him cold, too. Either it was one hell of an act, or this guy was on Nico's side. Too bad Nico hadn't stuck around to hear it. "You don't get to know that. You need to answer my questions."

"If you did something to the boss, then we don't have anything to talk about," Xeno said. "All you need to know is that you'll pay for it."

Sam looked him over. "Nice. Play the loyalty card. It would almost work, but no one's _that _loyal. Especially not in this situation. Too much money, too much temptation, and the boss is a bastard, so why bother?"

Xeno gave him another glare. "Ain't about the personality. It's about the man. If you knew him, there's no way you'd think any amount of money or temptation would be worth it."

"So you're scared of him?"

Xeno shook his head. "Didn't say that. Just tell me what you did with him."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sam asked, laughing, but the truth was that he'd really like to know where Nico was right now because the man was definitely not on his game, not in good shape. Maybe seeing Dani would get some sense into him. She seemed good for that. "Too bad you can't. Tell me what I want to know."

"Or better yet, tell us who would have gone after the team when they got to the playoffs again," Mike said, and Xeno looked over at him. Sam frowned. Mike walked closer. "You're the number two guy. You know what your boss knows—or the closest anyone would get to it. Is there anyone who would fit that description and make your boss drop off the face of the earth?"

Xeno looked at him. From the way his jaw twitched, the answer was yes, but he wasn't about to share that information with them. "Why would I tell you that?"

"Because it seems to me your boss is fixing to get himself killed and if you're as loyal to him as you've been pretending, you'd tell us what we need to know to be able to stop this guy," Mike went on. Sam didn't like this. Mike had taken a call and now seemed spooked—as much as Mike got spooked. "Who would have a grudge against the team making the playoffs? Enough to kill?"

"Do you know where Nico is?"

"At the moment, no."

"Damn it," Xeno said. He shook his head. "I don't trust you. I have no reason to trust you. I don't know what you're after, but I won't tell you that. I won't tell you nothing."

Mike sighed. "Why does everyone have to be this paranoid?"

"It's the job, Mike," Sam said. He looked at Xeno for a long moment. "You ever seen the medal of honor?"

"The video game?"

"No, the one Nico has. That or any of his purple hearts."

"The man doesn't even talk about being in the service. Any service. You can tell he has training, but he won't even say what branch. I don't know if he has any medals. Wouldn't surprise me, but why the hell does that matter?"

"He got one of those purple hearts saving my life," Sam said. Xeno looked at him, waiting for the punchline. "Yeah, I might not have the same shape I once did, but I still have every bit of my SEAL training, and I haven't forgotten it or the men I served with. Nico's a friend. He's been working with us. You need to tell us what we need to know to save him from himself."

Xeno just looked at him. Mike studied him. "Would it help if you spoke to Doctor Santino?"

The man barely stopped himself from reacting to the name. Sam nodded. "Or maybe it would help if you spoke to Matt Donnally."

Xeno gave him a look of disgust. "You almost had me for a moment. But you blew it."

"Nico cares about Dani. He saved Donnally's annoying ass for her sake."

Xeno shrugged. "What do you really expect me to tell you? Everything? If you really know Nico, you know I'd never do that."

Sam sighed. He looked over at Mike. "We're not going to get anything from him like this."

"You got any old pictures of you serving with Careles, Sam?" Mike asked. Sam pulled him to the side, and Mike looked at Xeno before looking back at Sam. "The guy is holding out, and we need something. We don't know if we can trust him with Santino, though I'd gladly hand Donnally over to him. Fi said that Careles went to the warehouse to say goodbye to Santino. Whatever he's up to, wherever he's planning on going, he doesn't expect to come back from it. Fi was going to try and stop him, but—"

"But Nico probably lost her tail a minute after he got outside. Fiona's good. She's damn good. Nico was—I didn't want to say this, but he was trained as an assassin. Infiltration, we all did that, but he was a close quarters killer. He didn't like guns, and he didn't usually use them. He could take out his target and be back at the extraction point before anyone knew he'd left us. This is not a man who can be pinned down."

"You're friends with an assassin?"

"Jeez, Mike, it's not like he does it now, and it's not like it wasn't sanctioned then. It's also why he got out of the service. It was only an occasional thing at first, but it became every single mission for him," Sam explained. "All that's in the past, or it would have been if I hadn't asked him to do this. I don't know how far shooting Santino pushed him over the edge, but we have to find him. He knows who's behind the attacks on the team, at the very least, but going rogue when Hayes is watching him, that is just asking for it."

Mike was clearly not happy with Sam for keeping back that detail. Sam knew that he would be, but Nico didn't need the extra guilt and accusations in this situation. The man already carried enough guilt. "Well, Xeno might know who Careles is after, but he's not exactly talking, is he?"

Sam looked over at their prisoner. "How much do you know about Gabby—Gabriella Pittman?"

Xeno's look told them that he felt the same contempt for that woman that Sam did. "So you know what that bitch put him through, right? That she let him think Juliette was his to control him? Did he ever tell you _how _Marshall Pittman came to save his life? Because if you heard it from Marshall, it was embellished, to say the least. Guy's so full of himself he should sell his own hot air. Bastard. Look, I know I can't tell you anything that would convince you, but... Did Nico ever mention the name Sam Axe? Once in any of the time you knew him? Maybe?"

"Axe is the executor of his will."

"I am?"

"If you're not lying about being Axe, then, yeah."

"How do you know about Careles' will?" Mike asked, folding his arms over his chest. "He's not the type to share those kinds of details."

"Few years back, it almost got used."

"You mean when this guy, whoever he is, went after the Hawks the first time? Why didn't anyone mention that before? Why go through all this hassle to pin down a man when you both knew who it was?"

"Because that particular asshole's been in a coma for years. Nico put him there."

* * *

><p>"Okay, so let's get this clear here, and we mean really clear because you know, Fiona, she's Irish, doesn't necessarily get all of this—Ow, Fi, come on," Sam said, and she glared at him. Now was really not the time for jokes. She'd slipped a little something into Dani's water to help keep her resting, but that left Madeleine and Lindsay with taking care of all the girls. Even if they could trust Jesse—and Fiona wanted to because he didn't deserve what Vaughn had tricked Micheal into doing to him—they were leaving things back at the warehouse in really bad shape. None of the people there were really safe. She hated this.<p>

"This goes back to when I first got hired by the Hawks," Xeno said, shaking his head. "Most people have forgotten it. It's been all about the curse since that mascot tripped Alvarez, and that's all anyone thinks of when they think of the Hawks. Besides, back then it was all about burying things..."

"Burying _what?" _Fiona demanded. "Did this person... hurt some woman and your boss covered it up?"

Xeno gave her a dark look. "Nico wouldn't do that. He might make a scandal with a hooker or stripper go away with money, he might send a girlfriend who's causing problems somewhere else, but he wouldn't stand for a player doing that. He doesn't tolerate any disrespect to the ladies in the organization. You don't believe me, ask one of the cheerleaders. They have to put up with a lot of crap being who they are and doing what they do, but they don't even need to go to him because he made it clear to everyone that there's a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment."

"So why is this the guy, and why wasn't he considered for this before?"

"He's still in the coma. It's got to be someone working for him," Xeno insisted. "The guy hasn't moved. We monitor that. For all the hype about that stupid 'curse,' that guy's the biggest threat the Hawks have ever dealt with. The guy going after TK makes sense—he was TK, years ago."

Fiona sighed. "As nice as it is to have all the answers, you are going to have to speed this along because we don't have time for this. Careles has gone after whoever this bastard is that's helping your coma patient—on his own—in the middle of doing undercover work to help us while we're protecting his people. We all have _way_ too much to do to sit around chit-chatting."

"Sounds like the boss. He'll be fine," Xeno said, shrugging. They all looked at him, but he ignored it. "Story goes that Nico had it out for this guy from the moment they signed him. He was the number one pick for everyone, and the Hawks managed to land him. Everyone was happy except the boss. He said that Sitek was trouble. They thought he didn't like the guy's attitude."

"No, if Nico says there's something wrong with a guy, there's something wrong."

"Exactly," Xeno agreed, nodding to Sam. "Sitek's the reason for a lot of the security measures that we have. They say it's spying. They say it's an invasion of privacy. Nico's a paranoid man, and it shows, but Sitek... The whole thing started over drug tests. Nico was sure that Sitek was paying off the people who did them to make sure that he didn't get caught. It looked like the boss was nuts because even the independent ones came back clean."

"But this Sitek was using?"

"Anything and everything. He'd paid off the labs in three surrounding states to hide it. He had money, and he had connections."

"I don't like the sound of this. What kind of connections?"

"Mob. Lot of money in controlling the games."

Sam shook his head. "Please tell me that Nico didn't take on the mob by himself."

Xeno didn't answer. Micheal looked at him. "Does Careles have... connections of his own there?"

"You know, Mike, you're lucky you're asking Xeno here that question and not someone else. Nico wouldn't be the first to object to the assumption that an Italian name immediately makes you a part of the mob," Sam told him. He looked at Fiona. "That's like assuming all of you are IRA, right?"

Fiona made a face. Micheal shook his head. "I'm not really concerned with protecting the man's feelings right now. We're trying to save his life."

"Fine," Xeno and Sam muttered at the same time. Sam looked at Xeno. "The rumors said that Nico had an uncle who was pretty high up in one of the families."

"Rumor was Nico used to be an enforcer for the mob."

Xeno and Sam looked at each other again. Sam sighed. "It doesn't really matter what the story is, does it? Nico never confirmed or denied anything, in that way that he does. Sometimes it's useful to let people think that you're connected even if you aren't."

"So the mob thing... came back on Careles?"

"It was another thing he couldn't prove," Xeno agreed. "Sitek was getting more and more out there the longer he was on the team. Things got ugly right around when the playoffs were coming up in his third season. Big argument. In public. In front of everyone. Nico told Sitek he wouldn't be playing in them if he had anything to do about it. Pittman came down, was actually around in person for the first and only time since I been working there. Sitek was told to take some time off and think and the same went for Nico."

"Nico doesn't do time off."

"No. He and the guy who had my job before me went up to the place Sitek was staying. Caught him in the act. Four of the security guys turned on Nico and the other guy. No one knows exactly what happened up there that day other than Nico, but the whole security team died. Sitek and Nico were the only ones that made it out alive. If you can call it that. Sitek's been on life support ever since, and Nico... Like I said, they dug out his will."

"Why kill over the playoffs?" Micheal demanded. "It's a damn game."

Xeno gave him a look. Sam did, too. Spies just didn't understand the value of a match, not in the greater scheme of things. There was no threat to national security, therefore it didn't matter. Fiona shook her head.

"It wasn't just about the playoffs," Xeno said. "Not playing in them cost Sitek a lot of money and the championship ring. Cost the mob a lot. Fans lost a star and a hero. Most people have no idea the stuff Sitek was into, but what happened with his security detail... That wasn't his first kill. The guy was into some nasty, twisted stuff. No one knows because the guy couldn't be arrested, and Pittman paid the right people or called in the right favors to keep it quiet. The scandal would have destroyed the team."

"Over Sitek? He was one player."

"He didn't do it alone. His security team. His trainers. The whole staff got shaken up, and most of them got fired. Everyone thought Pittman went nuts."

"Okay, but who would be helping this Sitek guy? Who would wait this long for revenge against the team for him? And why not... go after Nico directly? It seems like he's the only one who really knows what happened."

Xeno shrugged. "Fans still love the guy. He's got a foundation that people donate to that helps manage his care now that his own money is gone."

"And no one thought that maybe people deserved the truth about this?"

"Most of the time they don't even want it, Fi."

* * *

><p>"Are you going to pull the plug?"<p>

Nico looked behind him. He hadn't really considered it. Even if Sitek was dead, the person who was behind the attacks on the team wouldn't stop. They would be even angrier, and they were not going to quit. No, if it had been as simple as pulling the plug on the life support, Nico would already have done it. "Why are you here?"

"Curiosity. One of my truly bad habits. There are others, of course, but I find I have to know everything, as much trouble as that is."

"Since we both know you're going to kill me, why don't you just get it over with and stop playing games?" Nico asked. Hayes looked at him. "You don't have to pretend. It doesn't fool me."

"Of course not. It never did, never would, but as I said, I'm curious. I want to see how this plays out before then," Hayes told him with a smile. Nico shook his head. He didn't feel like playing along, and he didn't want to spend any more time in the company of a man who was planning to stab him in the back at any second. "You were supposed to deal with the man in Miami, and yet I find you states away visiting a vegetable."

"Nothing is ever without purpose, even if we don't see it at first," Nico said, looking at the doorway. "Well?"

"I don't know why I gotta tell you what you already know, Nick. The family's only interest in Donnie boy there is to make sure all of that stays quiet. Nothing comes out, we got no issues. Told you that years ago, but you don't seem to listen."

"It's not that I don't listen. It's that you lie. You have a very bad habit of doing that, Michele."

"Lay off that 'Michele' crap. You make it sound like a girl's name, and only my mother ever called me that. She's gone, god rest her."

"You call me Nick. We're even."

"Yeah, I guess we are," Michele agreed with a nod, smiling as he left the doorway.

Hayes turned to Nico. "Was that who I think it was?"

Nico shrugged. "I don't know who you thought he was, but it is possible. Then again, it's as equally not possible as it is possible. Are you sure you don't want to get this over with already? I don't expect any more visitors—not for several hours—and Sitek isn't very good company. Then again, he never was."

"I heard he used to throw quite a party."

"If you wanted to risk ending up dead in one of his games, sure."

Hayes studied the man on the bed, going close to the machines keeping him alive. "Funny how the story is that his cabin exploded, killing five people and severely injuring both of you and yet neither of you have any scars from the burns."

"Mine could have been taken care of."

Hayes laughed. "Yes, I suppose. But not his. No one would bother. All of his money went to keeping him alive this long. He's lucky he still has fans who are willing to pay even if he's never going to wake up. What really happened up there?"

Nico didn't answer. It was not a subject he discussed and certainly not with Hayes. The man was no friend, could not be trusted, and furthermore, Nico didn't feel like giving him any ideas. He looked at Sitek. Few people understood the monster that had hidden behind that face, exploiting that talent, but Nico had known something was off with him before he even met the man. He'd advised against getting the trade, but Marshall and the others had been so proud of getting what everyone else wanted that no one wanted to listen. Good people had suffered and died because of a few men's egos.

First it was the drugs, then the mob, then the incidental people who seemed to disappear after meeting Sitek. None of it was something Nico could prove, and he'd done his best to get the man refocused, give him a single enemy, but it wasn't about that. Sitek was indiscriminate. He didn't care who he hurt as long as he was hurting someone.

"You may as well tell me. We are in for a long wait."

"There is no 'we' here, Hayes. This is my business and has nothing to do with you."

"Your concerns are mine if we're partners."

"You're planning on killing me. There is no partnership here," Nico reminded him, and Hayes smiled, reaching for the tube feeding Sitek his oxygen. "Killing him doesn't actually solve anything."

Hayes studied Nico for a moment, turning the tube around in his fingers. "I wonder how you can say that when he almost killed you."

"Sitek was not the issue. His basement 'funhouse' maze full of traps and everything he could think of to kill a person was. I'd already neutralized Sitek, but since he'd shoved one of my men down there, I had to go in after him."

"It wasn't worth it, though. You didn't save him. And almost died yourself."

Nico glared at the other man. "You don't know what happened. Stop thinking that you do."

"You could tell me."

Nico shook his head. The subject was not one he was going to discuss with Hayes, ever. He looked over at doorway, watching the nurse approach. She smiled as she took a breath from the flowers, not having any idea what they were really for. She carried them into the room and set them on the table, giving both him and Hayes a warm wave before leaving. Security here was clearly not what it should have been, though Nico was on the approved list of visitors.

He went over to the table and took the card from the flowers. A location and time, as he'd expected. First, though, he'd have to get rid of his unwanted "partner."

* * *

><p>"Sitek's dead," Sam reported, ending his phone call. Micheal nodded, taking in the news. It wasn't like they could expect Sitek to tell them anything of use, but his death, coming so soon after Careles disappeared, didn't look good.<p>

"What?" Fi asked, frowning. "You don't think Nico...?"

"I don't know—"

"The boss wouldn't do that," Xeno said, standing up. He dropped the ropes he'd been tied with on the floor and folded his arms over his chest. Not bad. Then again, the man had worked with Careles for years, so he had better be. It would seem that someone had made the wrong call there. If they'd asked him to train their next generation instead of demanding that he kill, imagine what the SEALs would be like now.

"It would be a bad strategy, for one thing, and Careles has a very strategic mind. He may not have been at his best, but he had some kind of plan in mind when he left or he would never have gone," Micheal said. He knew that Careles had something—even if it was a stupid idea that was probably going to get him killed. "Sam, did your source say anything about the video?"

"Yeah, he did," Sam answered slowly, shaking his head. "He got a bite, but you're not going to like it."

"What do you mean?"

"Hayes."

"What?"

"The guy has connections, Mike. We all knew that," Sam reminded him, shaking his head. "He's gotta be watching everything connected to Nico and that means the Hawks. If someone's targeting them, then he probably knew about it. A part of me wouldn't be surprised if he was behind it, but that's giving him too much credit. He might have caught that I served with Nico years ago, but arranging all of this around the off-chance I'd call on him? I haven't done it since you got burned, so why now?"

"About that, Sam, why _didn't _you ever call him before? He had money, connections of his own, and he clearly could have been of help to us before," Fiona asked, her hand on her hip. "Any particular reason?"

Sam winced. "Uh, yeah, about that, Fiona—You know, I'll explain later. It's kind of a long story. For now, we need to focus on the getting to Nico before he gets himself killed. If Hayes knows about this thing, then he might know—well, Nico has to have left Miami, right? So he knows Nico's gone instead of dealing with me or with our new friend Xeno here. We need to find him before Hayes does."

Xeno took out his phone and pushed a few buttons on it. Micheal looked at Sam. The other man shrugged. No one had taken away the big man's phone? Were they really that sloppy? "I carry two. Like Nico. It pays to be paranoid."

"Oh."

Micheal had to ask. "You carry a signal jammer, too?"

Xeno just smiled as he made a call. "It's Xeno. Anyone been by to visit Sitek lately? He got flowers just before he—Yeah, yeah, I know he's on the list. No, I don't know that one. He said he was with Nico? No, don't worry about it."

Micheal waited until the man hung up, but judging from the expression on his face, it wasn't good. "Well?"

"Nico was there. Someone else was with him."

"And we're still going with the idea that Careles didn't kill Sitek?"

"This guy Hayes... He wouldn't happen to look like this, would he?" Xeno asked, showing them a grainy still photo taken from a crappy security camera. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Whoever this Hayes is that you're so worried about, he's with Nico now."

Sam looked at Micheal. "Hayes wouldn't think twice about cutting off Sitek's life support."

Micheal nodded. "You said that Sitek got flowers. Just before he died? Any record of the company who sent them or who purchased them? If someone was going to get a message to Careles, that would be how they'd do it."

"I can find out," Xeno said, making the call.

Fiona shook her head. "Okay, what I don't get is why Hayes followed him all the way to Sitek's room. What could possibly be this interesting? Does Hayes have some stake in this that we don't know about or is this just about Careles? Why go to all this trouble? Why not wait for Nico to walk back into his office?"

"Unless he thought Nico knew better," Sam said, shaking his head. "Damn it, I really don't like playing catch up here. Mike, you got any ideas about how to get ahead of this thing?"

"Where did Sitek and Careles have their last face-off? Even if he's dead, the man acting for him would want to take Nico back there. Maybe he thinks it would force him off his game, being where he almost died—or there's something there. Or it's just sentimentality. Any way you look at it, that's the most likely place where he'd send Careles."

"Then why not go there instead of the rest home this guy was in?"

"Officially, the gas main blew at the cabin and killed the security team," Xeno told them. "They torched the place afterward to cover up what Sitek had done."

"And the land would have changed hands to pay for the medical bills."

"So where else?"

"Somewhere else with significance, maybe, but I still lean toward the place where Sitek almost killed him. This guy would want to finish what he thinks Sitek started."


	12. Some Confrontations

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 4,409  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: I gave this one another night of sleep and looked it over this morning, making sure I was okay with the way it came out. It's been kind of a busy/crazy weekend, and that always throws fic into doubt, but then it becomes clear again with some coffee in the morning...

* * *

><p><strong>Some Confrontations<strong>

Dani hadn't felt like this since the morning after her bachelorette party. She didn't remember how many places they'd gone to that night or how much she'd actually had, just that she felt it for almost a week afterward. It had been fun and completely worth it, a break from the whole getting married too young and because she'd gotten knocked up thing. She'd actually had it _after _Ray Jay was born, after Lindsay was born, but Jeanette had insisted that she get a proper party when she got her tubes tied, and that was what they did.

It was a shame the other woman was in Barcelona. She would have loved all this. Even the hiding in a warehouse part. That was just who she was.

She tried to take a deep breath and remembered. She had cracked ribs. She'd been shot. She couldn't really forget that, at least not for more than a few seconds. She started to sit up slowly, looking around. She was having trouble waking up for some reason.

"Hey, Mom. I thought you were supposed to stay still."

"I am. It just... I haven't left the cot yet, okay, Linds?" Dani asked, patting the space next to her. Her daughter sat down and leaned her head on her shoulder. Dani thought about combing through her hair, but since she had trouble lifting her arm, she settled for taking Lindsay's hand. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know. Well, I mean, we're here, and we're stuck here for who knows how long, but something seems to have changed with everyone while you've been out of it. I haven't seen Fi in a while, that quiet Micheal guy is back, and I think there's someone else around, not just Jesse—"

"Jesse?"

"Oh, you were asleep then, huh? Yeah, Jesse. I guess Micheal and the others know him somehow. They didn't say how. They don't leave him on watch alone—but they don't do that with anyone, so maybe that's not a big deal. I swear I heard someone else, though."

Dani closed her eyes for a moment. She really missed being able to breathe normally, but the alternative was a lot worse, and she was glad she was alive after the risk she'd taken. She didn't regret what she'd done, not when she looked around the room and saw actual smiles on the faces of the girls they'd rescued, but it still hurt, right thing or not.

"Help me up, will you? I think I'd better talk to Micheal and see if I can find out anything about what's going on. Have you seen Sam or Nico?"

Lindsay shook her head. "No, and even though Ray Jay has asked about TK, we haven't gotten an answer."

"Then I'll ask," Dani said, wincing as Lindsay helped her to her feet. Her whole body was sore, and she did not want to move. She smiled reassuringly at her daughter and opened the door to the other section of the warehouse.

"Oh, crap," Lindsay muttered, almost jerking Dani back. Pain almost overwhelmed her, but Xeno moved over quickly and helped her to the nearest cot.

"It's okay, Lindsay," Micheal told her. "Xeno's been cleared."

"Cleared?"

"They thought I was involved in what happened to the team. Now they know I'm not," Xeno answered. "Tomorrow I'm making pancakes."

"Really?" Lindsay asked. "'Cause those ones you made before were awesome."

"I just need enough stuff to make them for everyone," Xeno agreed with a nod. Micheal looked at the big man like he was crazy. Dani remembered her first meeting with him and smiled. He'd made her pancakes that morning, too. There was a sweetheart underneath all that muscle, not unlike his boss. Nico cared a lot more than he would ever admit.

"Where's Nico? For that matter, where are Sam and Fiona?"

"That's... a long story," Micheal began. He shook his head. "Let's just say that if all goes well, the situation with the Hawks will be resolved and all of you can go home."

"And if it doesn't go well?"

"Don't worry about it, Doctor D. The boss knows what he's doing."

Dani nodded, though she didn't find Xeno's words as reassuring as he expected or even as much as she _wanted _them to be. She agreed mostly for Lindsay's sake. She wanted her daughter to feel safe—and Dani did like having a familiar face like Xeno around; it was comforting—but Dani remembered the last conversation she'd had with Nico. She'd been mostly asleep at the end, but something had been off. She knew him well enough to know that—and she swore he'd kissed her forehead. _That _was not like Nico.

"Uh, Dani," Matt began, awkwardly clearing his throat behind her. "Would you... Can we talk? Please?"

She looked back at him and regretted it when her ribs flared up, but she forced a smile anyway. "We should talk."

"We'll give you... as much privacy as is possible," Micheal said, about as uncomfortable as Matt was at the moment. "Lindsay, you have that list of things the girls need?"

"Ray Jay and I have been working on it, with the girls, but the language thing has been a problem. Some of them really got the wrong idea when Ray Jay was helping give out the dresses. Will Fiona be back soon? I think we could really use her help," Lindsay explained, walking back with Micheal and Xeno. Dani wondered if Xeno knew any other languages, but she didn't really have time to ask him.

"I need to apologize," Matt began. "I didn't—I don't know that I'll ever understand why you did what you did, and I know I'll never like it. You put yourself in harm's way, you got hurt, and you didn't have to. These people—they could have handled it without you. I'm glad the girls are safe, but you got hurt. And I guess I'm a bad person for wishing you never had to do that."

Dani sighed. "In a way, you're acting out of—you want what's best for me, really, and you don't want to see me hurt. That's all understandable. It's just that you don't see the rest of it. The fact that you can't understand why I had to do it... Matt, this _is _who I am. I'm always going to be putting myself in situations that could be dangerous, at least as long as I continue helping the team. Those are big men with big tempers, and if I was the type that got scared off or backed down from that, I'd never have gotten this far. TK trashed my office once, but I just stood there and told him to do the other wall. If I hadn't done that, if I hadn't gone up to that private room, he would never have made the progress that he did. I can't always sit back in my perfect office with my perfect furniture. That only made TK mad. I connect with my patients, and sometimes that means getting in a car going a hundred seventy miles an hour or standing toe-to-toe with an angry wide receiver. Having loan sharks coming by my house. I don't back off when someone needs my help. If you can't accept that about me, then..."

"Then I should have taken the job in San Francisco?" he finished, almost managing a smile.

She nodded. "Yeah, maybe. It's not that I don't really like you or spending time with you and the chemistry between us is... well, you know, but..."

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>"You're good. Always losing your tails."<p>

"You managed to plant a tracker on me that isn't blocked by the jammer. That's actually impressive," Nico muttered, trying to figure out where Hayes could have put it that he wouldn't have noticed. He would have noticed any prolonged contact, and Hayes had not made any. Nor had his staff. The fact that he'd somehow pulled it off bothered Nico considerably.

"Actually, I guessed about the location you were going, as I did when I learned about Sitek. I'm sure anyone could. It's a logical progression," Hayes answered. "Why would they bring you anywhere else but here?"

Nico glanced at the building. "Someone put a house here again."

"Or they never tore it down in the first place."

Nico shook his head. He knew that Hayes would think that, same with the man who'd done so much to have Sitek's "revenge." It wasn't as hard as they would assume for him to walk on this ground again. It had not intimidated him when he walked it after leaving the hospital, and it did not bother him now. "It was burned."

"You came back? Surprising."

"The memories can conquer you or you can conquer them," Nico said, moving toward the house. He didn't see any problem with ringing the bell. Either the man was waiting inside or he would come up to stop Nico before he did. It was the next step, and he wanted it over with.

The door opened. "Careles. Long time no see. Didn't expect you to bring a friend."

"Why is it always the trainers?" Nico asked, shaking his head. The players were not as annoying as the trainers had proved to be. "And he's not a friend. Assuming you don't kill me, he's planning on it."

Hayes laughed, and the former Hawks trainer frowned. He shook his head. "You can come in, Careles, but he is not welcome. No invitation to this party."

"You're having a party?"

"Yes, and you're not the only guest. I'm sure you know the others, though. You know everyone," Reiten said, gesturing for Nico to go inside. He did, and Reiten tried to close the door after him. Hayes stuck his foot in.

"I don't think you really want to leave me out of this."

Reiten smiled slightly, an unhinged look, and Nico stepped back into the so-called businessman, knocking him against the door frame, putting his elbow straight into the man's gut and turning his other hand to catch his throat and put pressure on the artery, cutting off the air and blood supply. Hayes was still trying to recover from the unexpected attack and catch his breath, far too easy. He'd had it coming, really. Nico let him fall to the ground.

Reiten looked at him. "I thought he was supposed to kill you."

"He will when he wakes up."

"Then why let him live?"

"Not finished with him yet," Nico answered, and Reiten shut the door behind them, locking it. Whatever the former trainer was planning, Nico needed Hayes out of the way to deal with it. He couldn't be worrying about what the other man might do. "I suppose it took you this long to get the money to do all this?"

"I had some before, but I needed the Hawks to get close. If the curse hadn't happened, I would have done this six years ago."

"Why? Sitek is lying in a bed, hasn't moved, hasn't spoken. He can't ever thank you or help you again. Why are you so loyal to a man who never knew the meaning of the word?"

"Don't you ask yourself that about Pittman? Look at the way he treated us. 'Sorry, Harry, but you were too close to Donnie, and we can't take any chances.'"

"You're lucky that Pittman dealt with you and not me," Nico told him coldly. "Where are the other guests you mentioned?"

"Come, I'll show you. I think you remember the way to the viewing room, don't you?"

Nico almost stopped dead in his tracks. Reiten laughed. The sick freak had rebuilt it _all, _hadn't he? The maze, the funhouse, it was all underneath their feet now, and someone was stuck in it. Damn Reiten.

"What do you think, Careles? Could you survive it twice? Would you try? Are their lives worth it to you? Of course, there's always the chance they'll get themselves killed before you even get close..."

* * *

><p>"She won't be happy, you know."<p>

Micheal looked over at Xeno. He could pretend not to know what the other man was talking about, but he did. Santino would be angry when she found out that they hadn't told her the truth about Careles' disappearance and the threat against him, that Sam and Fiona had gone to find him, or that Hayes was with him. "Not my job to keep her happy."

"Not much gets past the doc," Xeno warned him. "She's distracted right now—Donnally's good at doing that—but once she puts together what she already knows, you'll have trouble."

"Maybe we'll have to go back to sedating her," Micheal said, looking over the list that Santino's daughter had given them. It was long, and he wasn't sure they had the kind of money they'd need to get all of it. "You have access to the same discretionary funds that your boss does?"

"Not nearly as many, but I can handle this list," Xeno agreed, taking it from him. "First, though, you want to explain why you weren't able to go with Axe and the lady."

"That's a long story."

Xeno shrugged. He folded up the list and put it in his coat. "I'm not going to say I've got time, but I agreed to stay back while they left so that I could make sure that the doc and her kids were okay. Now I've seen them. I know they're fine. You can either answer my question or I can go. I don't like leaving you short, not with all these people, but you're not the man that has earned my respect. It's been a long time, and that man never let me down. You... I don't even know you."

Micheal shrugged. The difficult part of an operation was not really the objective, but the team. If the team trusted each other—as he, Sam, and Fiona did—then the objective became the hard part, but they all counted on what the others brought to the team to get it done. This whole thing had gotten way out of hand and all because of the lack of trust between the team working it. That was largely due to Careles, who didn't seem to trust anyone. Sam was the one that trusted Careles with everything. The rest of them... Xeno was loyal to him, and Fiona liked him, but it wasn't the same without years of trust. The fractured pieces didn't have that. He was forced to stay here when he would rather be dealing with the problem, and he didn't know what he thought of Careles. Skilled, yes. Trustworthy... Maybe not. The thing was that he was just as secretive as Micheal was, and the two of them couldn't seem to share enough to break down the other's walls.

"The woman said you couldn't go. Why not?"

"Technically, I can't leave Miami."

"One of those, huh?" Xeno smiled a little. "Why not?"

"I'm on a list."

"Someone's been a bad boy," Xeno said, looking over at Donnally and Santino and shaking his head. "Thought the doc was smarter than that."

"Fiona will be disappointed if Santino's taking him back. She likes the idea of the doctor with your boss."

Xeno laughed. "She wouldn't be the only one. There's a pool going on it, how long it takes the two of them to realize it."

"Careles doesn't know about the pool?"

"Probably does."

"And he hasn't stopped it?"

Xeno shrugged. Micheal shook his head. Careles probably had his reasons for that, too, or maybe he just didn't care. It was hard to say, but sometimes these things had to be left alone unless they wanted to make it a lot worse than it was.

He looked over as the door opened and his mother walked in. She looked tired despite the fresh clothes and recent shower. They were all starting to feel the strain of this protection detail. She shut the door behind her, lighting up a cigarette. "Micheal, this was at the house for you."

"For me?" Micheal frowned, crossing over to her. He took the envelope and the cigarette, putting it out. She made a face, but he wasn't going to give it back. The warehouse was not a place where she could smoke, not with all of these people around.

"I'm going out for the stuff on this list. Can I borrow you, Mrs. Westen?"

"Me? Why?"

"Girl stuff."

"Ah, say no more," she said, going out with Xeno. Virgil stared at the door after them, and Micheal had to smile as he opened the envelope and took out the file inside it. He read over the short note that went with it, shaking his head, and slowly lifted the edge of the folder, frowning.

* * *

><p>"Something wrong, Fi?"<p>

She ended the call and looked over at Sam. He didn't like that look. "That was Micheal. He said someone left him a dossier. It was packaged in one of those mail envelopes but was never delivered. He opened it up and found information on Carla, Victor, Management, Simon, even the new man Vaughn that he's been dealing with."

That could be the break Mike was looking for—if they could trust it. "Does he have any idea where it came from?"

"There was a note with it, suggests it came from Careles, but it doesn't actually _say _so."

"Well, when we find him, we better ask. No way to tell if anything in there can be trusted when it just shows up like that. I mean, surprise messages aren't really that much out of the realm of possibility when it comes to Nico, but you'd have thought he would have told us first."

"Like he told us that he was leaving? Like he told us about Sitek? Face it, Sam, there's a lot that guy holds back. He's not really the trusting type," Fiona said, shaking her head. She stopped and took out her binoculars. "There. I can see something. It's a cabin."

Sam accepted the binoculars from her when she passed them over. "Damn. That looks like the pictures we dug up on the way here. Someone rebuilt that place, didn't they?"

"Look at the door."

He did, and then he frowned. "Is that... Hayes?"

"Well, the good news is that he's not with Careles. Bad news is he looks like he might be coming around," Fi said, moving closer. "Our boy has got to be inside."

As much as Sam didn't want to agree with that, he knew that was true, and he thought he recognized Nico's handiwork when he saw it. He wasn't sure why Nico had turned on Hayes—maybe the man had made his move or maybe he was just trying to reduce the number of threats he had to deal with. Whoever was in there was a sick man, and Nico couldn't afford to have Hayes distracting him.

Sam took out his gun as they got closer to the cabin. Hayes was still mostly out, but Sam whacked him again for good measure. They needed to keep him out, at least. "What do you think?"

"Hayes should die, and we could—" Fiona frowned as the door opened. "Go inside? And here I thought we'd have to rescue you, Careles."

"Damn, Nico, you look like hell," Sam said, taking in the torn and bloodied shirt and the disheveled hair. "Are you _bleeding?"_

Nico shook his head, frowning as he looked down at his sleeve. "That's not mine. Like Sitek, Reiten was nothing without the games. Even his choice of victim suggests that without a set up like this, he would never have been able to hurt anyone."

"I don't know. You look kind of... sore."

"If you got the guy, why don't we deal with Hayes and finish this thing? After all, you gave Micheal all the files he needed, didn't you?"

Nico frowned. "I didn't get anything from Hayes. And this isn't done. I just needed to make sure that Hayes wasn't going to get out while I took the next step."

"Next step? What next step?"

"Grab him, Sam. We may as well keep him where we can watch him," Nico said, and Sam made a face as he picked up Hayes' not inconsiderable weight. Fiona shook her head, and Nico didn't even seem to notice as he lead them back through the cabin. The rooms they passed through were standing empty, all but the one at the end. "Ignore him. He should live to stand trial."

"Who is he?" Sam asked, dumping Hayes in the nearest chair while Fiona dug out some wire. He didn't even want to know why she had it. He just tied one of their problems to the chair and tried to decide if the one that was bleeding was worth worrying about.

"Harry Reiten. Sitek's favorite trainer."

Fiona gave the body a kick. "No burying it this time?"

Nico looked at Fiona. "By the time I was conscious again, everyone had been paid off, the official story had been given, and only the crackpots were willing to talk about Sitek as something other than a heroic saint of football. And the mob wanted Sitek's connection to them and this sick mess kept quiet as well."

"So you kept quiet?"

"There's a value to silence, and I've never liked fighting losing battles. As similar as I might be to your friend Westen, I'm not the kind of person that goes up against a conspiracy and tries to unmask it. What purpose would it have served? Sitek would have been exposed as the monster he was, yes. The truth would have been told. I felt my time was better spent tracking down the family or friends of the victims and making some form of restitution."

"They were okay with the cover up?"

"What good would it do them to fight it? Sitek was a martyr at that point, and as a vegetable, he'd never stand trial or pay for what he'd done."

Sam knew that wasn't all there was to the story. Not by a long shot. "Did you hunt down the others that were involved?"

"As many as I could find. I monitored them, threatened them, and turned them over to the authorities for other crimes if possible," Nico said, feeling along the wall. "Where is it? It should be here... There."

"Oh, hell, Nico, tell me that isn't what I think it is."

"Live video feed from the maze under the house," Nico answered, ignoring him. "That woman, there, is the Hawks cheerleading coach, Meredith Barnes. The one next to her, the calmer one, that's TK's girlfriend, Vivica Stevens, a writer for _Sports Illustrated."_

"And not one of the swimsuit cover models? Hey, could she get me in on that set?"

"So... you've forgotten why we stopped talking, have you, Sam?" Nico asked, not looking away from the monitors. Fiona gave Sam a look, and he shrugged. "Reiten said everything was like it was before, but it can't be. No, even dedicated to Sitek or whatever that lunatic is, he wouldn't have made it the same. If I knew how to get through it, he'd never let me get close to it. There have to be plans around here somewhere, but even they won't be the right ones. Sitek kept them... top left drawer, false bottom. I need paper."

"Nico, sit down before you fall down. The concept of sleep mean anything to you, ever? It has to happen for everyone eventually."

"Uh, boys, I think that Stevens couldn't convince Barnes to stay still," Fiona began, pointing to the monitors. "Did he have sound for this? Anything? Can we get a warning to them?"

Nico shook his head. "That was part of the fun—at least to Sitek. He didn't want anyone warning people. That would spoil the game."

"And the game?"

"Try and get out of the funhouse alive."

Sam cursed. "Did anyone ever win this game?"

Nico nodded slowly as Fiona took out the plans from the desk. "If you can call it that. I don't even remember the last part of it, couldn't tell you how I got out of there."

"Any of the traps run on electricity? Something we can disable from here?"

"Separate generator. That was in one of the last rooms," Nico said, grabbing a paper and sketching out a rough floor plan, putting it next to the one from the desk. "This is where you start—not the room where the women are. That's in the center with some fairly nasty traps around it. This room is simple enough. Avoid the darker panels on the floor; there's a straight path to the door. Next room was one to crawl through or you'd lose your head. Third room was gas. Mostly a nuisance, but it burned like hell and made it really hard to see anything in the room after it. That was the glass—no, the glass was after that—not that the order is all that important, as I already said. Reiten would have changed the layout. He couldn't let me walk right through it."

Sam really didn't like this. "We're sure we can't convince them to stay put? At all?"

Nico shook his head. "I doubt any sort of radio communication would work down there, at least not with the world up here. There were intercoms so that you could hear the other people in the maze screaming and dying."

"Oh, gee, I'm so glad we came to help you out."

"You do at least have _one _advantage."

"Really?" Fiona asked, lifting up the sketch Nico had made. It wasn't even half-done, and they were looking more screwed by the minute, if they were stupid enough to go down there, which they probably were. Unfortunately. "What's that?"

"Even if he changed the order on the traps, I know what they look like. What they sound like."

No. No way. Sam shook his head. That was not even up for discussion. Not going to fly, not even going to get off the ground. "Nico, you're not going down there."

"Sam, it's the only way anyone stands a chance of coming out alive, and we all know it. I swear I'm done after this. I was actually expecting Hayes to kill me if I got past this point, but since you're here—"

"It won't happen. You're not going to die, Nico. I'm not letting that happen."


	13. Slow Torture

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 3,080  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (didn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Well... it wouldn't be me if it didn't have a cliffhanger...

* * *

><p><strong>Slow Torture<strong>

"Micheal, we have a few problems."

He winced, moving away from the others to finish this conversation. He didn't want anyone to overhear this, since he really didn't like the tone of Fiona's voice right now. Whatever was going on, it was bad. "Okay, Fi, just tell me what they are."

"First off, that file you got was not from our friend Nico. He said he didn't have time to do it, and I believe him. Don't trust anything that's in there."

Micheal nodded. He'd expected as much. From what he knew of Careles, the man was too paranoid to trust any files to a delivery service, even if that delivery service hadn't actually done the drop off. He would have made sure that the files got directly into Micheal's hands—or Fiona or Sam or even possibly his mother. It would not have been left at the house for anyone to find. The question was whether someone was setting Careles up by giving Micheal the information—letting him be the scapegoat for their leak—or if they intended for complete misdirection there. Enough of the stuff about Carla and Victor was correct, enough for Micheal to consider believing it, but without a source he could trust or a way to verify any of it, he hadn't acted on any of it. He thought about it, couldn't stop thinking about it, but he couldn't use it.

"What else?"

"The reason no one knows about the... other activities that Sitek was into is because they happened in the woods, underground, where no one could hear the sick things he was up to including torturing people in a maze that only one person has ever gotten out of alive."

Micheal shook his head. "It's a good thing that man is dead."

"I agree. If he wasn't, I'd pull the plug on him myself," Fiona agreed. "Apparently, to cover up the activities, Sitek's place was torched, but his devoted fan Harry rebuilt it. I'm starting to think the people in the car accidents and shootings got off easy. The good news is that Harry was easily dealt with. The bad news is that he'd dropped a couple of women into the maze before he was disabled, recreating the situation that almost got Careles killed the last time."

"Fi—"

"He insists on going down there," she went on like Mike hadn't said anything. "He's the only one who could make it through there alive, and we all know it—"

"He's also the man who hasn't taken a break since he came to Miami. He's going to get himself killed down there," Micheal interrupted. "Maybe you. Maybe Sam. Maybe those women."

"Unfortunately, only one of us can go down with him."

"You're staying above ground," Micheal said, unable to help the relief he felt at hearing that. He didn't want those women to die, but every time Fiona was in danger, he worried. It didn't matter how good she was at taking care of herself. It was worse, now, being so far away and powerless to do anything about it. He had half a mind to take the papers Lucy had given him and go up there anyway, but by the time he got there, it would all be over anyway.

"Someone has to keep an eye on Reiten and Hayes," she said, shaking her head. "Plus I can watch the videos and look at the plans and sit here with my hands tied."

"I know how you feel, Fi."

"I know. I have to go, Micheal. The boys are heading down into the hole, and I need to have the line clear. I'll let you know if anything happens," she promised him, hanging up.

Micheal lowered his phone and looked down at it, shaking his head again. He really hated this. He needed that damn burn notice off his back so that he was a free man again. He did not want to be stuck here for the rest of his life, and he didn't want to sit on the sidelines, either.

"Something wrong, Westen?"

Micheal looked over at Xeno. "I thought you were getting that list."

"Gave your mother the money and the list and doubled back."

Micheal nodded. He would have done the same thing, especially if he'd seen the envelope. "It looks like you can start making arrangements to get your people home. After, of course, you clean house."

"And the boss?"

"He's... going to be a bit longer."

* * *

><p>"What would you rate this as, South America? Africa? Maybe Europe?" Sam asked after they dropped down into the first room of the maze. He studied it and shook his head. It looked... normal. Innocent. Not a thing wrong with it at all. Deceptive, and if he hadn't heard about the last place from Nico, he would have been fooled.<p>

"Europe never happened."

"Europe it is, then," Sam said, watching Nico carefully make his way across the floor. Sam's eyes had to be going because he couldn't tell the difference between the panels. He didn't see what Nico saw—but then Nico had an advantage, of sorts. He'd been here before.

"Were you ever in Ireland, Nico?" Fiona asked over the conference call. She was still there, for now, and it was strangely good to hear her voice.

"Maybe," Nico answered with a slight smile. Sam shook his head, smiling. Now that had been a good time, but given the way Fiona had reacted to Sam's involvement in that thing that never happened, it would be better if she didn't know about Nico's time there.

"Through here, Sam," Nico said, going under the door. Not that it was much of a door. More like a flap, a doggie door. "And watch your knees on the other side. Nails, all through the floor."

"So far it's been exactly like you said," Sam began, since Nico had added as many details to his floor plan as he could while Fiona made her call, and they gathered up supplies, before they didn't dare wait any longer. "Maybe you could have watched from Fi's spot."

Nico jumped back and flattened himself against the wall as a flame jet nearly incinerated him. "That was not there last time."

"Great."

"I told you it would be different."

"Yeah, well, this is starting to look more like South America," Sam muttered, dodging the jet and trying not to step on the nails coming up from the floor. Fiona was probably getting a kick out of this. He looked like he was doing a really dumb dance. "South America sucked, you know."

"Of course I know," Nico muttered, sounding annoyed as he ducked another flame. "I took a bullet for you and carried you out while you were high on some jungle fever."

"Not my fault, Nico. You can't blame me for the action of one bug. I carried you before then. And don't forget about that whole thing with that cantina in that little town just off the river—"

"We will never be even because you tried to kiss me."

Fiona's laughter rang in Sam's ears, loud and obnoxious. He was never going to hear the end of this one. "Oh, this is great. More stories, boys."

"Did you _have_ to mention that when she was listening? I thought you were someone else then, okay? A beautiful dark haired jungle princess with unbelievable—"

"I know who you thought I was, Sam," Nico muttered, stopping to pick up some of the nails and throw them across the hall. Flames shot out as the floor disappeared, revealing a gaping hole in the floor. "I was afraid of that."

"This is twisted. How the hell did this guy come up with something like this?"

"Television."

"Sad thing is you're probably right."

"Don't go down," Nico warned, and Sam looked over at him. How deep was that pit, then? The center of the earth, maybe? Or just deep enough to where the fall would kill you? Had Nico tried that before? "Never a good idea."

"So we go under the flame on our stomachs and get torn to hell by the nails?"

"Never said we wouldn't get hurt, Sam. In fact, if we come out with minor scratches, we'll be lucky," Nico reminded Sam, crawling across the hole. He sat on the other side, leaning against the wall for a moment. "Ms. Glenanne, are you still with us?"

Sam pulled himself across, ignoring the pain as much as he could. It was just a bunch of little stings, but that could be enough sometimes. "Looks like we lost her, Nico. Think that means the ladies down here can hear us?"

"I doubt it," Nico said, reaching to the side and feeling along the wall. "Latch must be on your side. If it exists. When I pushed it last time, I rolled right into the room with the... low ceiling, but it could be anything this time."

"You know, you told me it wouldn't be a small favor, helping me out, but I didn't drag us into a funhouse maze some psycho had created—"

"No one said you had to come with me." Nico reached over and pushed the latch, opening the hole in the space next to Sam. Looking into the dark space next to him, Sam shook his head, but Nico went in anyway. Sam wasn't sure if the man was really determined that nothing was going to stop him or if he'd really lost it and didn't care what happened to him down here.

He went in after his friend, bumping into the other man in the dark. "Okay, so... what now? Bunch of stuff for us to trip over and walk into and hurt ourselves with?"

"Pretty much. There was a clear path, made a pattern like an S the last time, but it might be an R now or it might not exist at all."

"But at least for this we've got flashlights," Sam said, taking one out of his bag. "Cute. That you in effigy hanging from the wall?"

"I'm a very popular person, it would seem. Lots of people want me dead." Nico almost sounded amused. Sam shook his head, moving the light around the room until they could both see the far corner and the door that would lead them out of here. "There. Clear path."

"How many more rooms are there?"

"At least ten. Five before we hit the center. Why? Are you tired already, Sam?"

"I'm worried about you, okay?" Sam admitted. "I think you might have finally gone around that last bend, you know. You were always one step toward it—hell, we all were—but you've been off since we started this thing, and you just added more and more pressure to yourself, and now... I'm really starting to think you lost it, buddy."

"Because I can laugh at myself in effigy?" Nico asked as he opened the door. "The Hawks either feared me or hated me. A few of them were too stupid not to do one or the other—TK among them. He reminded me of Sitek sometimes, but he never gave me that same sense of uneasiness. The man is a big child, an angry one sometimes, but not like this. The point is, Sam, that if I wasn't up there like that, I wasn't doing my job."

"It's an ugly, lonely life when everyone fears you. Or hates you. Or both."

"I prefer it over sponging off every woman I come in contact with."

"Come on, now, Nico, that's low."

"Actually, in this room, stick to the walls. There's a very thin ledge, and you do not want to fall down in the center of it," Nico corrected, tapping the tile and watching as the giant trap door swung open. "Don't let the part that's still up fool you. The only part that is safe to walk on is the small strip by the walls."

"I meant the bit about my life style. Don't knock it. I've got all I need and a beautiful woman to go with it. You could have a lot more than you do, but you don't even _try."_

"Are you speaking of Doctor Santino again?" Nico shook his head. "You know she has someone in her life, and furthermore, what I said to Hayes was true. I don't need another woman in my life, not after the power I gave Gabriella."

"Dani's not like Gabby."

"Some birds fly better solo."

"Not you. You're a loyal man, Nico. You need a cause or a team or a family or friend to be loyal to. You don't have that now, and that's what's causing all this recklessness. Or so you think. It's not true. You've got me. Hell, now you've got all that comes with me: Mike, Fiona, Maddie. Even Virgil. And even without them, you've got your man Xeno—who is _very _loyal to you, I might add—and the Santinos. And that woman cares a lot more about you than you know."

"Shut up, Axe."

"I'm not kidding. I mean, the way she took care of you when you got drugged and that _kiss..._ Let me tell you, brother, that was not just a friends kiss. That was not even a _pretend _kiss. That was one _hell_ of a kiss."

"You know, I don't think that the funhouse is the torture chamber. It's this conversation that's the real torture."

* * *

><p>Fiona cursed loudly when the beep came in her ear, and she lost contact with Sam and Nico. She turned to the monitors and looked at the screen. They'd disappeared from sight, too, but hopefully that just meant they were in the dark room and not... gone. It was far too soon for that. Even Sam was better than that. She shook her head, waiting impatiently until they reappeared on the next screen.<p>

Nico showed Sam the trap door that took out a corner of the floor, and Fiona could only watch as they made their way around the room, arguing about something. She wished the picture was better than this—she'd like to try and read their lips, but she wasn't as good at that as Micheal was, and she definitely couldn't do it with these screens. Reiten's devotion to having things as Sitek had them meant a bunch of tube televisions with equally lousy quality surveillance cameras recording the action.

Where was the fun, though, in only watching? If these guys were as big as sickos as they'd pretended to be, they'd want to hear their victims dying, right? Maybe it was another switch, another control.

Fiona rolled her eyes at herself as she found the remote for the television and cranked up the volume. She couldn't hear anything, but then that screen wasn't the room they were in. Great. She needed the other remotes. She opened the drawers and started hunting. They had to be around here somewhere. She found another couple and turned up the sound, then went to the televisions themselves. Some of them had manual dials that were accessible from the front, so she'd use them. The ones with the dials on the side or the back would be a problem, but at least this gave her something to work with.

Sam and Nico moved into another room, this one full of nasty hunting traps on the floor and poor handholds on the wall. An inexperienced climber would probably fall right off the wall into the rows of traps and lose a leg or arm to them. Sam, though, he started with the first trap and disabled it, setting off the whole row with a grim smile.

Another room down, but they were still too far away from the women in the middle, who were bound to find a way out of there soon enough. Barnes was looking along the wall, having finally given up screaming and pacing. Fiona had already seen the button that would release the hidden door, the one at the desk, the one that Sitek had probably pushed with relish and that Reiten might have been about to push when Nico kicked his ass. Still, the door probably opened from somewhere inside the room as well, and if either woman came across it, the whole thing might be over the minute they stepped into the next room.

The amateur stuff led up to the center. Going away from it would be a lot trickier, and Fiona was pretty sure that the animals in the room next to the center were _live _animals. She'd given Nico her taser, but that might not be enough. Poor things. She didn't like the idea of Sam having to shoot them, either. It wasn't like they had a choice about being dumped in this underground hellhole, and she doubted that Reiten had been the best caretaker. He probably hadn't even fed them.

"That's it," Fiona said, nodding as the men dropped to the ground and made their way through the room full of swinging blades. The metal was sharp and glinted even on the poor screen. Some of them dipper lower than others, and Sam looked like he might get cut a few times—maybe this would convince him to lose a few pounds—but they made it through alive. Again.

"It won't help, you know," a voice said, and Fiona looked behind her. Reiten had woken up, and he was smiling at the television screen in a way that was more than a little psychotic. He turned that grin on her. "He went in. I knew he would. He can't help it. He thinks he's this cold bastard, but he's really not. He cares too much."

Fiona walked toward the lunatic and pushed her foot down on his hand. "Caring too much is not a weakness, despite what everyone says. Your little game is over, Reiten. You can pretend to gloat all you want, but you haven't won anything. Nico and Sam will get out of there in one piece with the women that you thought you could hurt. And believe me, that was a _very _bad idea. I don't like it when people try to hurt women."

Reiten looked up at her. "I'm not scared of you, bitch."

She leaned down into his face. "You should be."

He laughed. "Even if I was, it wouldn't matter. You don't get it. Joke's on you. On him. On them. There's no way out. Not this time. They're all going to die."


	14. War Stories

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 5,183  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (didn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Back to the longer chapters again, this one was almost all over the place... Reactions are unpredictable at best. Also, I did my best to ensure that no animals were truly harmed in this story because I love animals (not a member of PETA, though) but some of them were probably badly hurt before...

* * *

><p><strong>War Stories<strong>

"Mr. Careles!" Barnes said as the door opened, and she threw herself at him. Nico flinched involuntarily as she hit one of his many bruises, and Sam gave him a look as the woman continued to hold onto him. "Oh, I am so glad you're here. I thought we were... I don't know what he was planning to do to us, but it couldn't be good. And I'm so glad that the rumors weren't true. I thought I'd heard that Pittman fired you, but if you're here—it doesn't matter. You're here."

Nico extracted himself from Barnes' hold. Sam gave the woman a grin, almost inviting her to come hug him instead. Barnes actually seemed tempted. "Are either of you hurt?"

Stevens shook her head. "No. He drugged us when he got us—she was here before I was—and I'm starving, have no idea when I last ate, but otherwise, we're fine."

"You might not be when we get through this," Nico said, looking around the room for anything useful. He didn't really think there would be anything, but it was always worth looking. He shook his head. "Listen very carefully. This whole basement that you're in has been rigged with dangerous traps. It's a maze that does its best to kill you before you find the way out. It's not as simple as walking back the way we came. I'd like to tell you both to stay here until we know the way is safe, but unfortunately, the traps close behind you. If we make it out, you wouldn't."

"Who would do this?" Barnes asked, holding onto Sam. Sam smiled at her. As long as the woman was interested, that was all Sam seemed to care about.

Stevens went further. "Is it connected to TK getting shot? It is, isn't it? And Bobby Caldwell's accident? The disappearance of Doctor Santino and the trainer, Matt Donnally? Who is after the Hawks?"

"You wouldn't know him. His time with the Hawks was over a long time ago," Nico answered. "Stick close to Sam. I'll go first, but only after we are clear that you do exactly what I say when I say it without argument or hesitation. This is not a joke. The only way we all make it out alive is for you to do what I tell you."

"What about you?" Barnes asked, looking up at Sam. "Why not you?"

"Nico's been here before. I haven't. I can get past most of it, but Nico knows what we're up against better than I do."

"Before? This happened _before?" _Stevens demanded angrily. "How could this have—"

"The man responsible for the last time was dealt with. This is a twisted copycat," Nico interrupted her angry speech. "Are we done now? Can we proceed?"

"Uh..."

"Yes," Stevens said tightly. "If you tell me what happened to TK. He's not in the hospital. Is he here? Is he dead? What about the others?"

"Everyone is alive. We will take you to Terrence as soon as we're out of here. He was not harmed, just moved for his own protection."

Stevens let out a breath of relief and then hugged Nico, and he frowned. Sam started laughing. Nico shot him a dirty look, and then the whole thing around them shook.

"That was an explosion."

"That was Fiona. She must know something we don't," Sam said, looking up at the ceiling. "Not sure if she's just out to get our attention or—"

"Wherever she caused that explosion is where we need to go."

"Are you two _crazy?" _Barnes shook her head. "I'm not going towards an explosion."

"That explosion may be the way out," Nico informed her as he spotted the catch for the door on the other side of the wall. Barnes' eyes widened. She'd probably gone over the walls dozens of times, but she never found the right catch. Something moved in the other room, and Nico looked back at Barnes. "Look away and cover your ears. You're not going to like this."

"What?"

Stevens looked toward the door, but she turned around and covered her ears. Sam looked at Nico. "What is it?"

"Barnes is PETA. And we don't necessarily have a lot of choice about what's going to happen in the next room."

"There are animals down here?"

Nico pointed to the other wall. "Look away. I only have one taser, and if the menagerie is anything like it was last time, it won't be enough."

"Don't hurt them."

"I never said I wanted to. We're talking about rabid, starved animals here. We have no idea how long they've been left in there, and you are going to have to accept that I will incapacitate them by whatever means necessary to get us out of here," Nico snapped. Saving people was almost more hassle than it was worth sometimes. "I could always let them eat you if you think it would help?"

Barnes stared at him in shock, unable to come up with a response to that.

* * *

><p>"Been looking for you two," Fiona said as the boys dragged themselves up out of the hole, the last ones out. The women had come out first, like they should have, and Stevens remained cool and almost collected, but the other one had started wigging out the moment she got topside and only Sam's presence had calmed her down. It was ridiculous. "You certainly took your sweet time getting over here."<p>

"I assume the damage to the structure would have been too severe if you created our exit any closer to the room we were in?" Careles asked tiredly. She nodded. She would have liked to have gone for the floor right next to the center room where the women had been, but she couldn't. She'd spared the animals as well, though after being tased and everything Reiten had done, they might have been better off with the quickest end. She wasn't sure that animal control could do anything for them.

"The psycho in training made sure there wasn't a way out this time."

"There wasn't the first time," Careles said, and Sam looked over at him. "Yes, I _did _leave that out. Reiten might think there was because I did, in fact, survive that, but, no there was no way out. I couldn't remember what it was because it didn't exist. The emergency crew I called before I went in the basement must have gotten me out. And yet that is not possible, either. I don't know. I don't remember an exit, though."

"This—it can't be, but it _is. _This is Don Sitek's cabin, isn't it? Don Sitek did this?" the beautiful writer for _Sports Illustrated _asked, proving she had brains as well, which was more than Fiona could say for the other one, who had fallen for Sam hook, line, and sinker. Or was it stinker? With Sam, the second option seemed right.

"No, Sitek is dead," Careles said bluntly, dusting himself off a little. He looked plenty beat up, and Fiona had half a mind to knock him over the head just to get him some rest for a change. "What about the others?"

"I may have let them be a _little _close to the explosion," Fiona answered, receiving some sharp looks for it, confusion and a bit of horror from the recently rescued ladies. "Just a little, mind you. They're not dead. Reiten will go to trial, and you will have to testify against him. Sorry. I wanted to kill him, but I didn't think that would be a good idea since—well, it wasn't a good idea."

Barnes was clinging tightly to Sam, and Stevens had actually edged toward Nico. Fiona smiled a little. She didn't mind that they were scared of her. It didn't surprise her. It was fitting, actually. Other women tended to find her intimidating. She had grown to like it and use it. Of course, it was nice every once and a while to pal around with someone of the same gender instead of dealing with the boys' club constantly. Maddie's friends with the card games were nice, and a client now and then, and now... Now she supposed she had Dani. Careles must hate that.

"Ms. Stevens would like to see TK, and Ms. Barnes should go home. Reiten should be donated to the local authorities, but I suppose we'll have to drag Hayes back to Miami with us," Careles went on, inspecting the hole in his shirt. "I should stop at my place and get some things as well."

"Perfect. We can kill two birds with one stone."

"You left Terrence King in my apartment?" Careles demanded, looking very much like he might strangle Sam right then. What had they talked about in that basement? Something seemed to have driven a wedge between them. Then again, Careles was hurt and tired and bound to be somewhat cranky. Sam could be a very big baby sometimes. "You should never have been able to get in there, but I swear, Sam, I'll—that story about the jungle fever is not the only one that you would prefer stay quiet, and Ms. Stevens is a reporter, so..."

"I want to hear more stories," Fiona said brightly. "Or even just more details. I mean, that moment in the jungle must have been so... tender."

Sam gave her a death glare, and Nico shook his head. She smiled back at them, far too entertained to stop now. She would get those stories. She wanted to hear all of them. Every last embarrassing detail about Sam. She would make sure he regretted introducing Nico to them for the rest of his life.

"Enough, Fi. I get the point, Nico. Man, you think a guy's a friend and what does it get you? Nothing but a bunch of—"

"We should go," Fiona interrupted unhappily. She did want to continue this, but they couldn't. "I think the little explosion got the neighbors' attention, so anyone who shouldn't be here—Hayes, Sam, me—should be gone when the authorities get here."

* * *

><p>"Yo, what is up, my man N?"<p>

"You, apparently, Terrence," Nico commented as he walked into his apartment. He was pissed, and Sam had kind of known he would be, but when Nico asked for a safe place to store their invalid, Sam could think of nothing better than Nico's private fortress. The man was so paranoid that getting in had been hard as hell, but that meant that no one would be getting to their man while they were states away without people they could trust to watch him.

"That I am, and it is _good _to see you," the player went on, going straight toward him and hugging him. For the third time that day, Nico looked extremely uncomfortable. Sam smiled, exchanging a look with Fiona. She smiled, too. "Even better to see you, sweet thing."

"Terrence," Stevens said, shaking her head as she wrapped her arms around him. "You idiot. You shouldn't be out of bed. Sit back down."

"As long as you're with me. I've been going crazy here on my own. Nico's not much for decorating."

Nico looked over at him. "Decorations aren't necessary. What have you been into?"

"You never told us you had this kind of bling," King said, lifting up Nico's medal of honor and purple hearts. "This is some serious stuff, N. Impressive."

"Those are not—Give them back before I am forced to injure you again," Nico demanded, holding out his hand. King put the medals in his hand, and Nico shook his head again. "All of you should go. There's no threat from Reiten anymore, meaning you and Ms. Stevens are free to go. Sam, Ms. Glenanne, don't you have something and _someone _to deal with back in Miami?"

"Chill, N. We got catching up to do."

"No, you're going to leave. Now," Nico muttered, yanking off his shirt and leaving King staring at the marks from the funhouse and possibly a few of the older scars as he walked away, back to the bathroom. A moment later, the shower turned on, and Stevens looked over at King.

"I think we should go. He went through a lot to get me out, and then we had to put up with all these questions from the police, and he should rest. You should, too, and I wouldn't mind being alone with you for a bit."

"Well, damn, girl, that's all you really had to say," King said, grinning at her. She rolled her eyes, trying to explain that she hadn't meant it like that even as he pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arm around her as they walked to the door.

Fiona looked at Sam. "I did replace my taser. Got a great price, and I could—"

"It's not going to save us," Sam said, shaking his head. "Better to get it over with and take the punishment head on, or it will just get worse. He's pissed. No sense poking the angry bear, right?"

"That why you used his shower and took one of his shirts?"

"Well, I needed to clean up, too," Sam began defensively. He shrugged. "Besides, can you really see Nico in this? He's probably never worn it. The Hawks gave him promotional gear, and he showed up in Armani instead."

"It's not his color," Fiona agreed as the water shut off. They waited a few more minutes, and Nico came out of the back room, dressed in a fresh set of clothes, probably designer from the nice cut, and he gave them a look as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I thought you were supposed to be gone."

"Well, seems to me that our current problem is your problem, too, and you need to come back to Miami. This part of it might be done, but Hayes isn't. We need to deal with him and that fake information that Mike got leaked. Plus we have people to get back home, and those girls can't stay in that warehouse forever. You were going to help with that, right?"

"I thought you wanted me to rest."

"We do. There's the plane ride back to Miami, for one thing—and no, we're not going cargo, but I think you can spring for a charter this time," Sam explained, and Nico gave him another look. There was a knock on the door, and Nico frowned as he went over to it. He checked the peephole and walked away. The pounding got louder. "Not going to answer?"

"No."

Fiona looked at him and then at Sam. She shrugged. "Well, now, I'm curious. I have to know who's there."

Nico had already gone back into the bedroom, and Sam frowned as she opened it. She leaned against the frame and smiled. "Can I help you?"

"Where is he?"

"Oh, hell no," Sam said, crossing the room. "You listen to me, you bastard, and you listen good. You don't get to come here and demand to see him. You don't get any answers. You don't get _anything. _I don't care what he did with Gabby—you sure as hell weren't faithful to her and she's as much to blame if not more than Nico is for the whole thing, the way you treated him after twenty years was crap, and you don't get to cross that doorway, you understand me?"

Fiona gave Sam a look and then turned her eyes on the newcomer. "So you're the elusive Marshall Pittman. I have to say... I'm _not _impressed."

"Sam Axe. I should have known. Somehow you're always where the trouble is. I don't know you, Miss, but hanging around Axe will only get you killed."

"I can handle myself," Fiona said. "Would you like me to prove it?"

"That will not be necessary, Ms. Glenanne," Nico said, coming back into the room. This time he had a coat exactly like the one he'd left behind in Miami, and his hair was styled back. He looked calm, like he hadn't almost died in a basement torture chamber earlier or been through hours with the police. "I can fight my own battles, and whatever Mr. Pittman wants, it's going to have to wait because we have a plane to catch."

"Nico, you don't have to—"

"Your organization is safe, again. I told you that the Sitek thing would come back to bite you in the ass, and it did. I hope you enjoy sorting it out this time. It's not going away," Nico said, pushing through the doorway. "No one died this time, at least. TK just left with Ms. Stevens, and I believe that the rest of your staff should be home tomorrow. Well, perhaps not Doctor Santino. She may need longer to recover."

"Nico—"

"Our business is concluded, Mr. Pittman," Nico insisted firmly. "I would suggest that you change the access on the discretionary funds because I haven't forgotten how to use them, but other than that, I can think of nothing further we need discuss."

"Nice seeing you, Pittman," Sam said with a smile, clapping him on the back. "Give my best to Gabby—oh, wait, you're only seeing each other in court these days. Right. Have fun with that."

Fiona gave Pittman a slight wave as she wrapped her arm around Nico's. "So, tell me, Careles, what other war stories do I need to know about Sam here? Any others involving that jungle princess?"

Nico looked back at him, and Sam knew he was not going to enjoy this flight.

* * *

><p>"He is a much heavier sleeper than I expected."<p>

"Thing is, when he finally lets himself sleep, he's out like a rock. This has got to be at least two week's worth of avoiding it or taking cat naps catching up with him. At least," Sam said, shaking his head as he watched his friend sleep. Micheal looked at him. "Hey, no poking him with anything. He needs the sleep. Although... I'm already deep enough in the dog house, so maybe we should put him and a certain lady doctor in together...?"

Micheal sighed. "What did I tell you and Fiona earlier? We are not a matchmaking service. I won't wake your friend, and actually, I wouldn't be surprised if he was already half-awake, but we need to decide what we're going to do about Hayes. He knows about us. About Santino. If she goes home, alive, or her children, he might figure out that the whole thing was a hoax—if he doesn't suspect that already, and she'll be in danger again. We may have gotten rid of Donnally—"

"Thank goodness for that. Fiona came back even more pissed off than she left, despite plenty of fun at my expense. You know, there are _some_ things that friends just shouldn't share."

Micheal frowned at him and turned away from Careles. "Xeno. Thought you were going home."

"Need to clean house," the big man agreed. He looked down at Careles. "Hard to see him like this. The man does not sleep."

"Not when you talk about him," Careles muttered bitterly. Micheal had figured he was actually awake. The plane ride had been enough to put him out, but with an operative as well-trained as Careles, it wasn't enough to keep him under. "You should be back in New York making sure there's no connection to Reiten or Sitek left in the organization, Xeno."

"Can't exactly order me around, now can you?" Xeno countered, and Careles shrugged, sitting up slowly. He took in his surroundings with a frown.

"Haven't woke up in a strange place in a while?"

"If you think that bringing up the cantina will salvage your reputation, you are sadly mistaken, Axe. The damage is done. Glenanne heard the word 'kiss,' and it's all downhill from there," Careles smiled as he got to his feet. Sam shifted uncomfortably. "Do not think for one minute we are done with the matter of you putting Terrence King in my home. I don't care if it was the safest location you could think of. It was unacceptable."

"You didn't sleep long enough, did you? You clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"Tell me, Westen, did Axe ever mistake you for some kind of jungle princess with enormous cleavage?" Careles asked, and Micheal looked over at Sam. The other man was about as red as his shirt. "Or maybe we should discuss that incident with the snake—"

"No. Not that. Look, there are some things that never need to be shared. Best forgotten and all that."

"If I could forget that, I assure you, I would," Careles said. He turned to Micheal. "Do you have the file that supposedly came from me?"

"I think Hayes is our bigger problem at the moment."

"This has a bearing on his fate, and Sam, shut up before I explain what happened with that snake. It's an image that no one can forget once they've pictured it. One very big snake. One very—"

"Nico! Come on! I didn't—it was the best place for him. Really. You have to know that. You have to accept it, buddy. Look, nothing happened to TK, your man is safe, and it's all good, right?"

"—very naked SEAL," Careles went on like Sam hadn't spoken, and Micheal was forced to hold up a hand. Even that was more information than he _ever _needed.

"Okay, the two of you can... take whatever that is outside and settle it, but spare me the details. Sam and naked is not a sentence that ever seems to end well. If you want to sit this out and go back to sleep, Careles, feel free. It's been a long week for everyone, but more so for you."

Careles shook his head. "I couldn't sleep now. I can help, or I can leave, but sleep is out of the question. What did we do with Hayes, anyway?"

"He's still out, wrapped up like a pretty present," Sam answered. "Mike's the idea man. He was supposed to make a decision about keeping him or letting him go. It's not a simple question, you know. Not that I want you to get deeper into this thing, especially after all you went through up in New York, but Hayes disappearing would create a power vacuum and you're... well... It's a bad idea, right, Mike? A very bad idea."

"You should have seen him trying to convince someone to suck the poison out," Careles added, and Sam winced. Micheal almost did as well. "I'm sure you can picture it, Ms. Glenanne."

"Hey, why do you keep telling her all this? She helped me put King there, remember?"

"But you're the one who told him to stop by Miami, aren't you?" Careles asked, picking up the folder up and flipping through it, setting the note aside. Sam stared at his friend, and Micheal looked at him. He nodded unhappily. "Besides, I don't know any stories about Ms. Glenanne."

"Fiona," she said, leaning over the folder as well. "Or Fi. But you really don't have to call me 'Glenanne' all the time. It's a mouthful."

"Good luck with that. I've been trying to get him to call me 'Dani' for months now," Santino said, and Careles glanced at her. "I'm fine. Moving slow, but I can be back on my feet if I take it easy."

"That's entirely debatable," Careles told her. "You know, if you hadn't involved yourself in this business with Hayes, you could be home right now. Uninjured."

"If I was uninjured, I'd try and kick your _ass _right now," she told him. "Going off alone, trying to get yourself killed? What kind of a strategy was that? You know better than that."

"You tell him, Doc."

"Sam did finally find someone who was willing to suck the poison out. The rest of us were having a hard time not laughing, but someone really should have mentioned that the snake was _not _poisonous," Careles said, and Fiona burst out laughing, patting Sam's chest.

"I love these war stories. More, please."

"Fi, we need to deal with Hayes—"

"He's sedated. He's not going anywhere."

* * *

><p>"I know there's no way you're going to talk about what happened back there, but I thought about asking you anyway," Dani commented as she sat down next to Nico. He looked toward her briefly, but his attention went back to the floor. Nico's story had made it impossible for anyone to concentrate. Sam got indignant and left, Fiona wouldn't stop laughing, so Micheal took her outside, and that left everyone at loose ends. Nico had told Xeno, again, to go home, and then he'd ended up over here, alone.<p>

"There is nothing to discuss."

"Of course there is. There's so much more to talk about than you would ever _think _about discussing, but you don't talk. You bottle. You ignore. You deflect. You evade. Anything you can to avoid talking about things. Probably because you're constantly at war with the honesty you want to have and the pain it brings."

"Don't analyze me, Doctor Santino."

"You were willing to pay for my services before."

"You gave the dollar back."

"Because you needed a friend. And you still do. You've got one here, a loyal and good man, a true friend, and you're pushing him as far away from you as you can. What happened, Nico? What got so twisted up and warped that it came to this? What is so wrong?"

He studied her for a long moment. "One part of my life has ended. Another part that had seemed over was not. The future is, as always, uncertain. What is it you expect me to say? I have no answers. This isn't a situation I can analyze without bias. I am too close to it."

"So... why not let someone else help you with it?"

He looked away then, and after a moment, he stood. She winced, knowing that she couldn't keep up with him if he decided to leave. She wasn't all that certain about standing up right now. "Nico, if you force me to chase you like this—"

"Don't get up," he said, looking back at her. He shook his head. "Stay put. Just... stay. Westen! I think I know what might have happened with those papers. It's probably going to mean letting Hayes go."

"Nico—" Dani began again, shaking her head as Micheal came over to Nico with a frown. She didn't believe this. Nico would use _anything _to get out of talking, wouldn't he? She knew they needed to deal with Hayes and whatever those papers were—no one would tell her—but couldn't they back off for a damn minute and let Nico get his head on straight?

"You think Hayes and the people who burned me gave us these papers to put us off track?" Micheal asked. "I admit, the thought crossed my mind, but I can't figure out what they were diverting us from. I haven't had any contact from Vaughn, and the thing with Sitek—"

"Has nothing to do with Hayes. Forget Sitek."

"Hayes killed Sitek, didn't he?"

Nico glared at Micheal. "If you want to know if I killed Sitek, come out and ask. I'll give you an honest answer. No, I didn't. I should have, years ago, but he was no threat to anyone in that bed."

"So it was Hayes."

"Or maybe natural causes. I don't know for certain. It's a strong possibility that it was Hayes, but Sitek was alive when I left."

"Boys!" Dani snapped, forcing herself to her feet. She saw Fiona walking up to Micheal, touching his arm gently, but Dani's focus was Nico. "I don't care what you think you're going to solve here, but this is not the way to handle it. You need to stop pushing, and you need to stop hiding behind whatever new situation or crisis comes up to avoid dealing with what's going on with you. I know you. You wouldn't have said as much as you did about Sam if you weren't reacting to something else. You want to fix this? Really? Then you need to stop burying or compartmentalizing or whatever it is you spies do and _deal _with it. Whatever's going on with you, Micheal, you're letting it interfere with your usual role in things here because I doubt that Nico would have had this much freedom in one of your operations if you weren't distracted by something. And Nico... I don't even know where to begin. Mrs. Pittman. TK getting shot. This conspiracy. Sitek, whoever he was. And... me. What you did for me. You can't even look at me right now. The guilt is going to destroy you, and you don't even have to feel guilty. I _asked _you to do it, remember?"

"I _shot _you," Nico said, shaking his head. "No matter what you thought was going to happen, nothing prepares you for when that first bullet hits, and you should never have gone through that. None of it would have happened if I had found Reiten when I should have. Don't tell me this isn't my fault. It is. The threat to the Hawks continued because I didn't find that connection, and that put everyone in danger. Then I made you angry and you chose to go down the path of putting yourself in Natalie Rice's place. I also came up with the idea of faking your death for my own cover. Yes, where in that is the part that I should feel okay with?"

She shook her head. "You know, Nico, I'm not even sure that's what's really bothering you."

He frowned at her as she walked closer to him. "Doctor Santino—"

"This is," she said, grabbing hold of his coat and pulling him close enough so that she could kiss him again. She was both relieved and a bit frightened at how it was the same as before, intense and hungry, both of them wanting more. It was a good thing that Matt had already left. He wouldn't have understood this, would have thought she'd ended it just because of what she felt for Nico, but that wasn't true. She and Matt did not fit. She wanted them to, wanted it so much because he was fun and handsome and the sex was good, but the truth was that he didn't see her for what she was, and she wasn't about fun. She liked it as much as everyone else, but her life was about helping people. She and Nico were a lot alike in that respect.

She stepped back and looked at him. "You feel something and that scares you. You can't deal with shooting me—if it had been Sam or Fiona or Micheal or anyone else it would have been different, but me... You can't handle the fact that you hurt me."

"Now is really _not _the time for this," Nico said, shaking his head. "Whatever... this... is, it's going to have to wait."

"You can't run from what you feel forever."


	15. United Front

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 4,989  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (didn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Figuring out what to do with Hayes was not easy, but this takes care of most of it and the rest can be wrapped up in the final chapter. :)

* * *

><p><strong>United Front<strong>

"You okay?"

Nico looked up from the table. He'd been focused on his coffee, though he knew Sam was coming. He'd expected someone to be along soon enough, but he'd half-thought it would be Santino, since she was determined to push things right now. "Shouldn't someone be asking you that?"

"What's a little snake story and humiliation between friends?" Sam asked, sitting down across from him. He gave Nico a warm smile. "Nah, I'm fine. Really. I'm not the one who took off, am I? Though for someone who knows how to lose a trail and disappear... this is a little too easy to find for you, you know."

"I didn't intend to go far. We need to deal with Hayes."

"And I suppose you'll volunteer yourself for that again?"

Nico gave the other man a look. "I am the one that is in, as far as we know. Hayes had his doubts, that seemed clear to me, and his security staff were watching, but they couldn't have been in the loop for everything or he would never have followed me to Sitek or Reiten. If we are returning Hayes, I _am _the only one who can do that. I assume that you got little from earlier forays into his files and operations before I came on the scene."

"Can we stop talking about the mission for a second and pretend that you're human?"

Nico laughed a little. "Since when have I not been human, Sam? I am a man with many failings, and that I have never tried to deny."

Sam shrugged. "Sometimes I wonder about you. Just like I wonder about Mike. Like maybe you're secretly robots."

"Robot spies?"

"It could happen," Sam said defensively. He leaned forward across the table. "Come on. Donnally's not in the picture now, she sent him packing, and she seems pretty interested in you, so why the hell are you sitting here talking about a mission? If you're going to be missing the planning party Mike's throwing, you should at least be getting some."

"Even were I inclined to follow that particular suggestion, she has cracked ribs, remember?" Nico shook his head. "I shot her. She is acting under the confusion of the circumstances, and I would be, too. I finally settled matters with Gabriella, and I no longer work for Marshall. The life I led, the things I devoted my life to, they are... gone. There, but not mine. She represents something that I could hold onto, but she cannot be my anchor."

"I don't know why not."

"Her life is in New York, and mine no longer is," Nico explained. "I've had offers from thirteen football clubs to take over their security, several private security firms, and there were a few mercenary firms as well. I can go anywhere I want."

Sam frowned. "Unless there were absolutely no jobs in New York—and that's hard to believe—you _can _stay there."

"I don't want to."

"That's new."

"It shouldn't be," Nico said as he finished his coffee and got to his feet. "Too long in one place makes a person... forget. They settle into routines even when they know better. Did you know I had a restaurant I went to _every _Tuesday?"

"You? Are you kidding?"

"I liked the food and the atmosphere, but you know I wouldn't have done that even five years ago. No, it is better that I move on, and that is not something I can ask Santino to do. It is almost a shame she ended things with Donnally. I do believe he intends to stay despite the job offer he had for San Francisco, and after Aldridge and her ex-husband, she deserves someone who would stick around."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. Not that I know who Aldridge is."

"You remember that book on behavioral psychology I sent you a while back?"

"That guy? What is up with your woman's taste in men?" Sam demanded, shaking his head. "Other than you, of course. Aldridge? I mean, he was watching animals for—"

"Don't remind me. I read the entire book," Nico said, and Sam grimaced. Nico smiled, leaving some change on the table for the waitress and picking up his coat.

"Hey, your plans for moving on, they wouldn't happen to be close to Miami, would they?"

* * *

><p>"You want me to do what, exactly?"<p>

"Don't worry, we just need a face that Hayes doesn't know. And unfortunately, he knows pretty much all of us," Sam began, looking around at their group. The only ones that Hayes didn't know were Virgil and Jesse, and that made this all the more difficult. "Mike ran point before, but we had to drop that when all three of us got made, and Nico's been running it for a while, but we're not really sure how this will play out, so what we need you to do is get yourself close enough to help Nico if something goes wrong."

Jesse looked over at Nico, amused. "You need help?"

"No," Nico answered immediately. He was still being stubborn, but then Sam knew that the doctor's little intervention earlier had made Nico even touchier than usual. He wasn't taking it out on Sam this time—not that Sam couldn't handle it the last time—and they'd kind of patched things up back at the restaurant. Still, Nico was definitely upset under all that fatigue. "But the consensus is—majority rules, apparently—that I am too tired and overworked to make that decision or handle this on my own."

"You need back up, Nico, and if you weren't so damn stubborn, you would just admit that," Sam said, opening a beer and looking at his friend. Nico nodded, leaning back in his chair. Maddie had made a pot of coffee just for him, and he'd already had half of it while they tried to sort this thing with Hayes out, and that was after what he'd had while he was out. "Man's a freaking machine, you know. Only a few hours ago, he's wandering around in this sicko's torture chamber, but he insists, now, that he's fine to finish this thing with Hayes."

"It was more than a few hours ago. You were entertaining TK while I answered questions at the police station, remember?" Nico asked, reaching for his coffee. "I'm not saying this is the most ideal of circumstances. The thing is, though, that Hayes can't be sedated forever, and we need to know who leaked that file. Was it Hayes? Was it someone behind what has happened to you and to Westen? Or are we dealing with some unknown factor?"

"You still have anyone on the inside who talks to you?" Mike asked. Nico looked at him. "It's more than most of what we have. Sam's contacts are pretty limited, and they haven't been able to help us with any of this. You might. Or someone you know."

"I might know someone, but if you think this was a complicated favor, what I'd have to do to get anything from him is far worse," Nico admitted, setting down the empty cup. "I'm not in the mood to travel, either."

"Nico, you're not talking about—" Sam caught the look on his friend's face and stopped. No, he didn't like that any more than he had that basement funhouse they'd been in. "Yeah. That's what I thought. _No. _I'm not kidding. You're not doing anything for that man. Mike, you're not asking. Absolutely not. You wouldn't like the price, either."

"Come on, now, boys," Fiona began. "There's a simple solution to dealing with Hayes, burn notice or no burn notice. This doesn't have to be a decision that takes days. It also doesn't have to be a complicated process. We don't give him back. The information isn't worth trusting no matter _who _gave it to us, so we ignore it, and we're done."

"And the vacuum this Hayes leaves behind?"

"Micheal, I want to shut him down more than you do—"

"Fi, it's more than just my burn notice. It's more than what he did to the girls. We don't know how he managed to get them from so many different countries, but we need to find a way to stop the whole operation, make it something that none of his lieutenants can get it up and running again. When I was in with Hayes, I never found the information we needed to do that. I'd turn over the investigation to the police if I thought it would get the job done, but it crosses way too many borders and would take a joint task force from so many agencies and countries that would make it impossible to stop them. They'd move on when one branch was shut down, but Hayes is the key to it. Without him, we may never be able to shut this thing down."

"So interrogate him. Don't play any more games," Fiona said. She turned to Nico. "You said you figured that if Sitek's guy didn't kill you then Hayes would. Why go back there?"

"The same reason I joined the Navy so long ago, which I fear you may never understand, Ms. Glenanne. Your reasons for joining the IRA were personal, whereas I think the rest of us joined for something... larger. Love of country or simply for the greater good."

She sighed, looking pointedly at Mike. "You're right. I don't think I'll ever understand it."

"Interrogation won't work. Hayes wouldn't tell us anything, though I imagine you'd enjoy hurting him," Mike added, and she grinned back at him. Oh, yeah, Fiona would enjoy it. There might not be anything left of Hayes when she got finished, though. "We put him back in play—temporarily-and we might get what we're looking for."

"And if the people who burned you are as unhappy with him as they should be, he'll probably end up dead."

Mike looked at Nico. "Honestly, do you think that you can get in there and out without getting killed within five minutes?"

"I'd give myself an hour, actually," Nico said. "Hayes' return will create confusion, and the fact that he's not dead will mean that they'll want to wait to for him to wake up so that they can take orders from him again. Unless they already have some, but that should be clear enough before I even walk in the door with Hayes."

"Jesse and Virgil will be waiting outside, close to the entrance, and Sam and I will be waiting in a support car—and this time, no signal jammer. We need to know when to move in. We won't be able to get close to rig anything before you go in, so this is a one-shot deal. In and out. Fiona's going to give you a little package to leave behind if necessary. I hope you don't have to use it, but I'll trust your judgment if you do. Fi, Xeno, and my mother will remain here to watch over everyone. If this goes well, we should be able to get these girls to their families at last. If not... well, you'll be dead, so..."

Nico smiled. Jesse looked at him. "You really think you have an hour?"

"If you're concerned about waiting for me—"

"No, I'm just wondering what will happen when your hour becomes the five minutes Westen thinks it will be. Talk your way out of it?"

"I hope not. I've never been much of a talker," Nico said, shrugging. "Never been very good at lying under pressure, either. Never been very good at lying, for that matter."

Jesse frowned as he looked at Nico. "How can you be a spy and _not _lie?"

"I never said I was a spy."

"You _act _like one. Think like one," Jesse insisted. "I was counter-intelligence. I know how to recognize spies. And you're running point. How'd you manage to do that and not lie?"

"Omission, evasion, careful word choice, and implication," Nico answered. "Omission is technically still a lie, but if he didn't ask, I didn't have to answer. It was a very thin line, blurred considerably, but it was there."

Jesse shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"Oh, you want to see something? When this is over, Nico, we have to do that thing we did at the base, you know, with that CO who thought he knew everything when he'd just landed and nearly got us killed. The LT tried to tell him it wasn't a safe camp, but he wasn't listening, so you..." Sam trailed off and looked behind him. Nico wasn't there again. "Yeah, well, that was kind of what he did, only he walked right up to the guy and drew on the back of his neck. Guy never saw him coming."

"Enough war stories," Mike said. "Let's get this over with. Sam, you confiscated the jammer and planted the bug, right?"

Sam reached into his pocket. "Yeah. I don't like it, Mike. You don't understand his thing with—never mind. It might save his life, and he'll forgive me eventually."

"Good," Mike told him. "Let's get moving."

* * *

><p>"Yo, Santinos! Miss me?" TK called, loudly, and Dani had to smile as she heard his voice. It was probably the only thing that could get a smile out of her right now, since the conversation with Nico had gone—well, it had gone as well as she expected, which was badly. Nico wasn't willing to deal with anything except the Hayes thing, and he did still blame himself for shooting her. She didn't know how to make him understand. Now he was off trying to finish the Hayes thing, probably going to get himself killed.<p>

"Of course we missed you, TK," Lindsay said, reaching him before her brother. She gave him a big hug. "Here, you have to meet Miriana. She's a friend I made down here—long story, but she loves football, so I think she'd love meeting you."

"Give him a minute, Linds," Ray Jay said, going up to TK. "It's good to see you on your feet again. When you were in the hospital—it was creepy, okay. You're _never _that still."

"Can't keep the king down, Jaybird," TK told him, giving him a big hug, too. Ray Jay was surprised by it, but Dani had to smile as she pulled herself to her feet. Her ribs were killing her, but she'd figured out quickly that her stress level seemed to make them worse, and worrying about Nico put her stress level up to levels she didn't even want to think about. She knew that he would say that she shouldn't worry about him—his actions through the whole thing suggested he didn't care what happened to him at all and thought that no one else should, either—but she knew he was doing dangerous things and that he was in the middle of a personal crisis as well.

"Come here, Doctor D, give me some love," TK called, opening his arms. He looked a little stiff now, finally some sign that he'd been shot. She made her way over, and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Ow."

TK frowned. "Was that me or you, Doc? I thought I was the one that got shot, but I'm feeling pretty good right now."

"He's feeling the pain meds right now," Vivica said, shaking her head as she got closer to them.

"Mom _should _be on them," Lindsay muttered. "She got shot, too, but she doesn't want to take anything for it."

"You got shot, Doctor D?" TK asked, his eyes wide. "Who did it? I'll kick his ass."

Dani forced a smile. The kids didn't know yet, and Dani didn't think she was ever going to be ready to tell them that Nico had done it. She wasn't sure any of them would understand it. They'd have to know everything, and even then they might not understand why she felt she had to do it. "I had a vest, so it's just some cracked ribs that are really sore, but I'm fine."

"If you say so."

"I do."

"Man, I missed all of you," TK said, shaking his head. He looked over at Vivica. "I've had my girl here back for about a day, but it is like _hell _in New York. Get out before you fry. There's some nasty crap going down back there with that divorce and the team. Bad time to be a Hawk, really. Did you know that Donnie Sitek was actually a psychotic _killer? _He had some kind of crazy maze in his cabin that he _killed _people with, and Vivica almost got killed when some nutjob remade it. If it wasn't for Nico and his friend, she'd be _dead. _I almost died. That's just messed up."

Dani nodded. She hadn't heard all of the details, but she'd put together as much of that as she could. "I guess most of us had it easy—or almost easy. We were just hiding."

"But you got shot."

"It saved my life," Dani insisted. "And the lives of all the girls in this room."

"I guess the people that Mom's friend Nico got to help him with taking care of us were in the middle of stopping some kind of human trafficking ring," Lindsay added, looking back toward her friend. "That's how Miriana ended up with us. It's okay, though. She's got family, and they promised to help her get to them as soon as they finished dealing with the guy that took them."

"What are they going to do with him?"

"Oh, I wanted to kill him, but I got outvoted," Fiona said, smiling as she joined them. TK looked over at her, not sure if she meant it. He must not have spent very long in her company, then. "Right now, Nico and the rest of the boys are taking care of him. Assuming all goes well, we'll have a bunch of reunions very, very soon."

"Sounds good, but when do we party? Can't go to Miami without hitting the beach."

"We actually haven't been to the beach."

"No beach?"

"We were in hiding," Ray Jay told TK. "No beach. We did some shopping, had a day trip on a boat, but otherwise, we've been here or at Mike's mom's place. It hasn't been bad, really, but not exactly fun, either."

"Well, now that I'm here, all of that is going to change," TK promised, clapping his hands together.

* * *

><p>"You're awake."<p>

Hayes opened his eyes and looked around. His hand touched the file sitting on his lap, and he frowned down at it. He looked over at Nico. "You... attacked me."

"Justifiably so. You were told the situation with Reiten was none of your concern, but you followed me anyway. I couldn't afford to have you stab me in the back when I needed to deal with that man's delusions," Nico informed him, watching him from the other side of the room. "Do you have an explanation for that file?"

"Does this mean you _are _working with Axe? Because that is such a waste of your talent and skills," Hayes said, flipping through the file.

"Do you have any idea what I used to do for the government, Mr. Hayes?" Nico asked, almost genuinely curious. He knew that Sam knew—and Westen probably did, too, at this point—what he used to do, but he didn't know how far that knowledge had spread. "I don't actually think you want me using my skills."

"Maybe if I could trust that they were working for me."

"Trust is a very fragile thing," Nico said with a shrug. "In your world, it's almost nonexistent. In my world as well. Would you like to tell me where the file came from? I don't like being misrepresented. I never sent that, but someone wanted people to think I did. Why would that be? So that this organization would see me as their... leak, their loose end? Or because Axe and I served together so he might convince Westen to trust it because it came from me?"

"What is it you really expect here, Careles? Truth, justice, and the American way?"

Nico laughed. "You don't really think I am the type that believes in those ideals, do you? Truth exists, but it's relative. Justice is too easily bought. And as for the American way..."

Hayes watched him, actually looking kind of worried when Nico leaned down to his ear. "The American government wanted me to kill for them. And I didn't need a weapon to do it. Your security team searched me, but that really doesn't make you safe, now does it?"

"Why would you kill me? It doesn't help you. I can get Axe the information he wants if you're working with him, and if not... Well, you and I have the makings of a beautiful partnership."

"I have at least twenty-seven better job offers on the table at the moment," Nico told him, shaking his head. "Yours is not even in the top ten as far as benefits and salary go, plus there's dealing with you constantly, which should merit hazard pay, at the very least. An annoyance tax as well."

"I can make the deal better. Name the top offer, and I'll match it. I'll double it."

"Now this is curious. I don't see why my skills would be of _that _much value to you, nor do I see why you would be begging and making desperate deals at this point. True, I could snap your neck before your guards outside the door could get to you, assuming they're listening, but that didn't seem to bother you any of the other times we met. Why now? Because I incapacitated you back at the cabin? Is that all? It doesn't take much to impress you, does it?"

Hayes looked at him. "Actually, it takes a lot. Your ability to elude my surveillance, the fact that I couldn't _prove _you were working with Axe and Westen—the way that you dealt with Natalie Rice—everything I learned of your past, and everything I saw in action. They want you, Careles. They did before, and they want you again."

"They who? The government? Or this mysterious black ops outfit that burned Westen?" Nico shook his head. "This was never about me. I don't believe that. I didn't think you were stupid enough to play more games with me, but since that seems to be the way you want it, look under your chair."

Hayes frowned, leaning down. "What the—How did you get that in here?"

"Your security searched me, not you," Nico said, amused. "Not that the threat against your life should really have much value or be able to intimidate you, but you could be weaker than you appeared. That explosive will take the whole building with you. I don't expect you to care about the people who work for you—you're not the type. But there is something here that someone wanted kept very safe, isn't there?"

Hayes glared at him. "Even if there was, I wouldn't tell you what it was or how to find it."

"Of course not, but since the people who have been hiding behind you should have heard this conversation by now, don't you think they'll want to do something about it?"

"I thought you always carried a signal jammer."

"I have more than one, actually," Nico said, lifting one of them out of his pocket. He should have more, but someone had taken one of them. That was between him and Sam, though. "I don't always turn them on. Sometimes it's important to let the right people hear what's being said. After you let Westen get so close, this new failure is really the end of your... career, isn't it? I don't suppose they'd make any kind of deal with you, would they?"

"No."

"I don't have anything to offer you, either. Maybe you should take what time you have left and make peace with it," Nico suggested, walking to the door. He stopped and looked back at Hayes. "You always were too curious, weren't you? You should have remembered what it did to the cat."

"They'll kill you, Careles. You and Westen and Axe and anyone else that's with them."

"Westen's too valuable to them for that. And if anything happened to the people Westen cares about, they'd lose him. Oh, they'll threaten his family and his friends, but he'd never work with them if they actually went through with it. A bad miscalculation on their part, whoever 'they' are."

"You're not Westen's friend, though."

"I also have nothing left worth losing. Nothing to fear. Goodbye, Mr. Hayes."

* * *

><p>"I knew he knew," Sam muttered. "Did you hear that? He totally knew that I bugged him. Now I pissed him off all over again. And I was going to try and convince him to stay in Miami. I mean, we can ask Jesse for help, but that's dicey after what you did to him—and I know you didn't intend to do it, Mike, but you did burn the guy. So we owe him, yeah, but once he finds out, he may just try and kill us anyway. We're going to need Nico to stick around."<p>

"I don't know, Sam. You all did a good job of trying to convince him that his future is with the woman, and the woman's going back to New York," Micheal told him, moving the vehicle into position. He hit the comm. "Virgil, Jesse, you still there?"

"Loud and clear, and they ought to give that boy another medal for that performance," Virgil said, pride in his voice. "Navy, now that's the way to go. SEALs."

"I thought he said he couldn't lie."

"He didn't," Micheal said. That was part of the reason why Careles was an impressive, if reluctant and stubborn, front man. He pulled it off without a lie. "Move to the underground parking lot. We're going to intercept Hayes there."

"What about Careles?"

"He'll find us."

"You really think that Hayes is going to fall for this?" Jesse asked, sounds coming through the comms that suggested he was on the move. Good. The man was curious but not someone like Donnally who had given them so much trouble wanting his questions answered. The difference was in Porter's training, though. "That he'll do what you want and get what we need?"

"Either that or he'll be conditioned for an interrogation that _could _get us what we need," Micheal answered, pulling up near the curb and putting the van in park. They'd have to wait for the right moment. He saw Virgil and Jesse approaching from opposite sides. Everything was in place. They just needed Hayes to do his part now.

"I wonder if we could convince Dani to move to Miami," Sam said, and Micheal looked over at him. Sam was paying attention to the entrance, like he should, but his mind was also somewhere else. "I think the kids might go for it. Beaches, babes—well, not for the girl, but she'd have her guys—"

"Sam, not now."

"I think if TK changed teams, we could do it, and think about it, Mike, a friend on the Fins. We'd get tickets for sure," Sam went on like Micheal hadn't spoken. He really wanted to find a way to keep Careles around. Sam was a loyal man, one of the best friends anyone could have. It was easy to take for granted. "And gear."

"King has a life back in New York, too. You're trying to move a lot of people around when the simplest solution is to convince Careles to stay there," Micheal pointed out. Sam gave him a look. "It is, whether you like being reunited with the man or not. Whether he can help us or not. He built up a life there, and the same with the people he cares about. If it helps, I don't want to be stuck in Miami forever, and you don't have to stay here for my sake, either."

"Yeah, Mike, I know."

"We got traffic approaching," Jesse said through the comm. "Dark van, coming down fast."

"That's got to be Hayes," Sam said. "We ready for this?"

"Only thing missing is Fi and a machine gun," Micheal agreed with a slight smile. He would have liked to have her with them on this, but someone had to stay with his mom and Xeno, and that was Fi. Sam wouldn't leave Careles right now, and Jesse and Virgil were the ones who could get close enough. He drove the van in place to block the exit and got out, taking a gun with him.

Hayes' driver tried to stop their van, but it was too late and on the downward slope, it easily crashed into the side of the one waiting for it. The airbags deployed, incapacitating the driver and the passenger, and they moved in to do the rest.

"It's empty, Mike," Virgil reported, shaking his head. "We got tricked."

"You disappointed me, Westen. That was entirely too easy. I thought you'd be prepared for that," Hayes chided from the other side of the street, leaning over the roof of a car and smiling.

"Actually," Micheal said with a smile. "I was."

Hayes frowned. So did Jesse and Virgil for that matter. Sam just grinned. A hand reached around and took the keys from Hayes' fingers. "I'm the one that's disappointed. I didn't think you'd fall for any of that. The files, too. Now."

"You'll never break the encryption on that," Hayes said as he took something from his pocket. "It'll be useless before you do."

Careles smiled as he backed away. "Ms. Glenanne sends her regards, by the way. She and the women you exploited thought that they'd give you something for all you did for them."

Hayes looked around, taking his hands off the car and hitting the ground just before it exploded.


	16. Practical Relocation

**Never a Small Favor  
><strong>**Word Count**: 7,048  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (didn't last); Mike/Fi  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own anything. I just break things.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.  
><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Long, long chapter, but it needed to be to tie up most of the loose ends. I say most because... things are better when they're left open to the imagination to continue... or possible insanity like a sequel in the future (and no, that's not a promise, just a statement. I have a lot of things to do before I write sequels. :( )

* * *

><p><strong>Practical Relocation<strong>

"There a reason that you didn't tell us the real plan was?" Jesse demanded as soon as they'd regrouped outside the warehouse. They all knew better than to stick around after one of Fiona's presents, and the fact that Hayes wasn't up and moving didn't bother any of them. It wasn't that likely that the bomb had actually killed him—if Fiona had really planned on that, the explosion would have been a lot bigger. This was definitely one designed to maim, to leave him thinking that he would have been better off if it _had _killed him. Especially when Mike's burn notice people got their hands on Hayes, as they soon would.

"Oh, now, don't take it personally, son," Virgil advised. Jesse gave him a look. "It wasn't because of you, new or not."

"Really? Because I get the feeling that none of you are even half-willing to trust me, and—"

"Hell, son, I'm not going to take it personal, even if I know it probably is," Virgil went on, shaking his head. Sam gave him a sympathetic look. It was no secret that Nico didn't think much of Virgil's abilities, and he'd told everyone as much. "Careles and I go back a ways, and he blames me for getting shot up in Columbia. I had bad intel, but I went ahead with the mission anyway, and my strategy was a near disaster, or would have been if he hadn't scouted it. He nearly died, but we came out okay. He's never wanted to work with me, not after that. Can't say I blame him."

"All of this assumes that there was an actual plan to exclude anyone from," Nico said, making Jesse and Virgil jump. They hadn't heard him coming, and even Sam might have jumped if he hadn't known the man was going to show up any second. "It owes more to Westen and I thinking rather alike than anything else. The situation was predictable. We both figured that Hayes would counter anything that we had that was visible, like the van. Westen had already noted the vehicle he kept outside the parking garage, and it was also likely that everyone would overlook me as having already played my part, especially Hayes."

"You had to have had a plan," Jesse insisted, looking from Nico to Micheal to Sam and back again. "Someone had to rig the car."

"Never said there wasn't a plan. I just said you assumed there was one."

Jesse shook his head, annoyed. "Cute."

Nico smiled a little and passed the files over to Micheal. "You do have someone who can help you with this, don't you? If not, I can recommend someone, and I don't think that the people watching you know who he is or that he's around this area."

Micheal looked at the device in his hands. "Maybe we should get an introduction. I'd rather not risk them knowing who can break their encryption, since if it's possible, we're probably going to need that person's help again."

Nico nodded. "Here's the address. You might send Virgil. He'll fit in with the locals better than you or Sam or Porter here."

"Anything else we should know before making contact with this person?"

"Don't mention the Packers, and if he gives you any trouble, remind him of Ernesto. Just the one name should be enough."

"Do we want to know what happened to this Ernesto?"

Nico looked over at Jesse. "You wouldn't have had the clearance for that, even in counter-intelligence."

"You know, if this works, we're probably going to have a lot to sort through and we'll need some help figuring out what to do with it," Sam began, looking at Nico. "So, buddy, you gonna stick around for a while?"

Nico shook his head tiredly. "As much as you all like to nag me about sleeping, it is impossible to do around you. I will meet you later."

"Fair enough." Sam looked over at Virgil as Nico walked away. "You know, I think he just might be ready to forgive you."

"Been a long time coming. I was starting to think it might never happen, but I'd be glad if he did. Never wanted to see him hurt. He was a damn fine soldier, even if that sneaky thing he does is downright creepy sometimes."

"You think that's creepy, let me tell you about this time in Europe..."

* * *

><p>"A party? Really? What if something had gone wrong, Fi?" Micheal asked as he walked up to them. Fiona turned around and grinned at him. Dani wished that she could smile, but she wasn't in the mood to party, as much as TK had tried to get her into one. In fact, now that everyone was back, she felt even <em>less <em>like partying. Someone hadn't come back.

"I knew you'd handle it. You and Sam probably could have done it on your own, but then you had Nico and Jesse and Virgil with you. It worked like a charm, didn't it?"

Micheal handed her a phone. "Push play."

She did, and Dani craned her neck to see the video. Hayes was leaning over a car, and then Nico took his keys from him. The sound wasn't great, but they could hear him tell Hayes that Fiona had a present for him just before the car blew up. Dani stared even after the video ended.

"Thank you, Micheal, that was perfect," Fiona smiled, and he smiled back at her. She stepped up like she was going to kiss his cheek, but then she put an arm around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss far less chaste and a whole lot longer.

"Oh, get a room," Sam groaned as he saw them, and Dani watched as they stumbled backward toward the door. "Violence turns her on. She's wired wrong somehow."

Dani thought about explaining the connection between the adrenaline of a life-threatening situation or the chemical response that was created with fight or flight, but she decided not to. Sam really didn't want the explanation, and Dani wasn't even sure it fit.

"They're going to be like that for a while," Sam said, shaking his head. Dani looked over at him. Despite the things that they both said, she knew that Sam and Fiona actually had a deep respect for each other. Their bond had started through Micheal, and it would be denied if anyone asked, but it was there. They were good friends and a better team.

"Now that everyone's here, it's really time to _par-tay!" _TK called, cranking the music up louder and raising his plastic cup like he would have a drink in a bar.

"Well, I have to hand it to the guy. For a man who recently got shot, he throws one hell of a party," Sam observed, raising a beer to TK, who was leading the girls in a conga line. Dani didn't know how he'd managed to get them to do it, but there was something about TK—he just exuded fun. He had a lot more than that in his life, anger and pain as well, but he liked to bring out the wild side in everyone, to remind them what fun was and what was good about life.

"That he does," Dani agreed quietly. She looked over at the door again. "I'm sorry, Sam. I couldn't help noticing that not all of you came back. Still... you're in a good mood, so that should mean that he's fine, and he walked away from the car before it exploded, but... he's not here."

"Oh, Nico? Yeah, he's fine. He said he couldn't sleep around us, so he took off on his own for a while," Sam assured her quickly. "Don't worry. He'll be by later. Maybe a day later. The man can sleep like the dead when the crisis is finally over."

She nodded, but she couldn't say that hearing it made her happy. Sam touched her arm. "It's a good thing, Doc. He hasn't rested in at least two weeks, and that nap he got coming back from New York really doesn't count."

"I know. It's just hard not to think that even as much as he _needs _it, he's doing it to avoid me."

Sam winced, but he knew it was true as much as she did. Dani sighed. Nico was honest, but because he was, he had perfected ways of _not _talking if he didn't like the subject. This was just one of those ways. "You know, he thinks he's doing right by you."

Dani looked at him. "Excuse me?"

"Nico. He does care about you, and you're right—it tore him up to shoot you, even if it did save your life. He thinks he has to leave New York now, and he won't let you give up everything for him. The man has never seen his own worth in all the time I've known him," Sam muttered, shaking his head. "Point is, you're probably going to have your work cut out for you convincing him to stay—if that's even possible."

"You think he'll stay in Miami if he doesn't go back to New York?"

"I'm working on it. I'd like it if he did. We could use his help, and he'd enjoy what we do. He likes fixing things."

Yeah, he did. Nico was a fixer. He did whatever needed doing, he'd told her when they first met, and things like stopping a human trafficking ring or any of the other stuff that Hayes was into, that was the kind of thing that he would like to be a part of, a much better use of his talents than bailing some rowdy football player out of his own mess.

"Well, if he doesn't go back to New York, I hope he stays with you," Dani told Sam. He looked at her, and she smiled a little. "You're good for him, Sam. Really. I don't think anyone else could have gotten him through this. Micheal, Fiona, and Nico are all lucky to know you."

"Thank you, Doc. That's kind of you."

"It's the truth, Sam."

He smiled at her, finishing off his beer. "As much as I love a good party, I think a little chauffeur work is in order right now."

"You do chauffeur work?"

"Well, Mike's brother owns a limo, but actually, I was just going to take my car. Shall we?"

Dani frowned. She hoped that he didn't have the wrong idea now, and she _had _seen him with that beer. He shouldn't drive anything, and she wasn't going to encourage him to do it, either. She'd probably grab Xeno and get him to keep Sam here for now. "Just because I said that you're a good friend—"

"A good friend who knows where Nico's hotel is," Sam interrupted. "Ah, see? That changes everything, doesn't it?"

* * *

><p>"It is impossible to sleep around any of you," Nico muttered, reaching up to catch the hand running its fingers through his hair. He didn't know why none of them would leave him alone—he was not a heavy sleeper, and he was used to waking up for whatever crisis needed handling or demand was being made. They did not understand the concept of privacy, either.<p>

"That's not true. You slept for at _least _four hours since I've been here. I tried to sleep myself, but I couldn't get comfortable. Your hair was in your face, so I just went to brush it back, and then I found myself doing more than that. And you didn't react right away, either, or I would have stopped. I didn't mean to wake you," Santino began defensively. "I wanted you to get some rest."

He rolled over and looked at her. "You're the one that's injured, not me."

"Then what do you call this?" She touched the cut on his forehead, and he sighed. It was nothing, really, but now that she'd seen it, she wasn't going to let it go. "Well?"

"A minor cut—something from the car got further from the blast center than I expected, and I wasn't out of its reach like I had thought I was," Nico answered, sitting up and absently touching the bandage. "It's nothing, Doctor Santino; you can leave it alone."

"Do you really have to call me 'Doctor Santino?' Isn't—We're a bit beyond that, aren't we? You can't really use formal address with me now. I may have been the one that kissed you, but we are friends, too. Friends use first names. What we are right now might not be defined, might not be more than... You can't use a formal title to push me away. In fact, there's not much you could use to push me away, period."

He looked at her. "I'm not going back to New York. At least, not for any longer than it takes to pack up what little I have and pick up my car. My life is no longer there. Yours is. You have your work there, the people you help. Your children's lives are there. Your family is there. I can't ask you to come with me, and I won't. I don't even know where I'm going yet. I know that the logical choice is Miami because I have connections here, but I haven't decided. A part of me thinks that I should make a complete break from everything."

She bit her lip, frowning. "I know it's not my decision to make, but I don't think you should go anywhere else. I know I can't ask you to stay in New York any more than you can ask me to go... wherever you end up, and so I won't ask. But... Don't give up everything and definitely not your friendship with Sam. He is too good a friend for you to lose him when you need a friend the most. It's not just Sam. You're not moving on from the past—you're running from it and everything you could have in the future."

Nico shook his head. "The thing about the future is that no one knows what it will be. We can make decisions based on what we want it to be, but there are no guarantees."

She sat up slowly, wincing as she did. He'd caused that, and he couldn't hardly look at her knowing that. "So your decision is to cut yourself off from everyone and be miserable? Because I didn't think you were that stupid."

He laughed a little. "I'm as flawed as everyone else. If you want proof of my stupidity, you need look no further than my involvement with Gabriella Pittman."

"You loved her."

"No, I think..." Nico took a deep breath, not wanting to admit this or even talk about it, but he could not give Santino anything less than the direct truth, not now. "I think that was more the idea than actual implication. If I'd truly loved her, I would have seen her for what she was, flaws and all, and not had the idealized version of her that was able to hurt me as much as she did. I'm telling you flat out that I am in no state to begin any kind of relationship. My life has been caught up in between the two Pittmans for so long without me even seeing that it was for far too long. I don't trust my own judgment, and if that means—it means New York is absolutely out of the question. It means I don't know how long it would take for me to straighten myself out, and I won't ask you to put your life on hold or rearrange it for me. It is far more likely that you would throw away a number of good years on someone who can never give you what you really need, and you have done that already. Don't do it again, certainly not for me."

She was silent for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "If you can't trust your judgment, then at least go somewhere where you can trust _someone._ If you really believe New York is not an option, then Miami should be. And despite what you think, you deserve much better than what you've allowed yourself to have."

"I wonder, listening to you, if you've developed a bit of Stockholm Syndrome."

She laughed a little. "Now you're using psychology on me. Right. Well, here's the thing, Nico. You never held me captive—"

"I remember not letting you out of the car once."

"Okay, there _was_ that, but that was only for a minute, and I could have refused to get on the helicopter with you, so... That's not really the point. You didn't use any kind of psychological conditioning to get me to like you, to consider you my friend, or to feel... more than that. I'm not even sure what I feel, and I did just break up with Matt after getting back with him almost right after signing my divorce papers, so I'm not exactly ready for anything big, either. Sometimes, though, what we really have to be open to is the _possibility _of more, and you've been so closed off that a part of me wonders if your relationship with Gabriella continued because she _was _unavailable, that she became the ideal or whatever she was to keep you from getting too involved with anyone else. You wanted someone you couldn't have, and that kept you alone."

It was a thought he'd had himself when he looked back on things, but he didn't want to admit that, either. He got up and started walking around. "I—you shouldn't have come here."

She shook her head, looking like she might try and get up on her own. "I had to come. I had to talk to you some time, and someone has to get you to see some kind of reason here. Even if you and I never have anything, I _do _care about you, and I want you to try Miami before you go somewhere else. I'd like you to give other things a try, too—mostly for selfish reasons—but at least stay where you have something—someone—to look out for you."

* * *

><p>"Way to skip out on the party, Doctor D. You missed a great one," TK said, his mouth half full of one of Xeno's pancakes. Fiona would like to keep him around, too, because the man made incredible food, but he was headed back to New York as soon as the last of the girls was taken to her family—another man that didn't stop until the mission was done, despite having no formal training like the rest of the boys. "It was an absolute blast."<p>

"You should have been resting, not partying, and that's... basically what I did," Dani said, trying to get herself to eat her own pancake. It wasn't the quality of the food—something else was bothering the good doctor. She'd been quiet ever since she got back, and it had to be because of the man in black. Fiona looked over at Micheal for a moment. It wasn't easy living with men like them, but it was worth it. No one else would ever get her or get _to _her like Micheal did.

"The girls had a blast, Mom," Lindsay said. "It was nice to send them off with a good memory for a change."

"I can't believe some of the stories I heard," Vivica added, shaking her head. Fiona looked at her, wondering if the reporter in her wanted to use this as some kind of exclusive. Then again, this was a woman who'd kept her head in the middle of Reiten's funhouse maze. She might not be all bad, and if she balanced out the crazy that was Terrence King, she was one hell of a strong person. "I'm glad TK made them laugh even if he should have been resting. Especially since he has an appointment today."

Dani frowned, looking over at TK. "Appointment?"

"Yeah, Doc," TK turned apologetically to Ray Jay, giving him a slight smile. "Thing is, my agent didn't want me taking off without doing a little... window shopping. The Hawks might just go down over this whole Sitek thing, and everyone's looking into other options, hoping to get traded before that happened. Miami made me an offer a while back, and I told them I'd take a look around while I was down here."

"You're... kidding," Dani said, shaking her head. The boy couldn't even force a smile at the idea of his idol leaving his team. "It—They really think—I don't understand. It was just one man, wasn't it? Why would everyone have to leave now?"

"So much for three hundred million," Nico muttered. They looked at him. He took a sip of his coffee. "I told Marshall not to bury it. I warned him that it would cost him more in the long run, and I'm not just talking about all the people he had to pay off to keep it quiet in the first place. It was a number that kept growing, I might add, and not only because of my efforts to notify next of kin, but because everyone who touched it had to be added to the code of silence. The taint kept growing with every year that passed. It _would _have been Sitek and the people who acted with him when it first happened. Now everyone looks guilty of protecting a monster, even if they had nothing to do with it, and no idea that it was happening. Even a full disclosure now probably won't save the Hawks since Reiten was able to continue Sitek's 'work' with his recent attacks."

"I can do what I can to make the story straight—I've got my own experience with Reiten and the new maze, but even then, I don't know that it's going to stop what's happening to the Hawks. TK might need to go somewhere else."

"I'm probably the only one who feels even a bit like celebrating right now, but I have to say, it's good to see the Pittmans going down in flames," Sam said, reaching for his beer. "If it wasn't for everyone else getting screwed, I'd say it was time for another party. You're not... the slightest bit amused by this, Nico? Not even an _I told you so?"_

Nico shook his head. "I didn't want this to happen. The Hawks were a good team, and it's a shame to see them go under because of Marshall's ego and stupidity. And I had my part in it, don't forget that. I could have done more to stop it back in the beginning."

"What? Get yourself thrown off security and arrested for harassment of this guy Sitek?" Sam asked, shaking his head. "No. You went above and beyond and got screwed for it as usual. How long did it take you to recover from what happened to you in that damn maze the first time? Two years?"

Nico realized he was rubbing at a spot on his arm and stopped, reluctantly nodding. "About that, yes."

"I'd like to have your side of the story, Mr. Careles. I think that people should hear it, and it may be the best thing—the only shot—of keeping the team alive after that scandal," Vivica told him, and he gave her a look that suggested there was no way in hell that was happening. She shook her head. "Well, we should probably go if you're going to be on time for that appointment, TK."

"Right," TK agreed, getting to his feet and taking one last sip of orange juice before he followed his girlfriend to the door. "Beach, later? And then I heard something about a boat?"

"When Virgil gets back," Maddie said, giving her son a dark look. He shrugged. "So, you two, kids, you want to come with me and find what you'll need for the beach? I promise, this is the last time you'll have to go shopping with me."

"Can I get a two piece?" Lindsay asked, "or is that going to be forbidden by all the moms? Maybe Fiona should come with us instead?"

Ray Jay looked at her and then his mother. "Can she just have the two piece I know she wants so that we don't have to spend hours looking at stuff she won't wear? Please?"

Dani thought for a moment. It was clear that she was torn. "Fine. But I want you to get one of those cover ups to go over it and pick me up a couple of those dresses that the girls were wearing. I think they'd be easier for me to manage with these ribs."

"Thanks, Mom," Lindsay said, hugging her mother in excitement. Ray Jay gave her hand a squeeze, and they followed Madeleine out.

She stopped at the door and gave Mike a pointed look. He forced a smile. "I'm sure Virgil will be back very soon, Mom. I asked him to stay until the work was done, that's all. Nothing dangerous. Right, Careles?"

Nico nodded. "The computer expert we sent him to is harmless to anything but code."

She smiled back, reassured. The rest of them were not so much. Micheal looked at him. "Are you telling me this guy is completely incapable of defending himself if something happens?"

"No," Nico disagreed. "That's not what I meant. The man has a lot of... electronic security. He might have trouble if the power is out, but then they all have self-destruct mechanisms that don't require power. What I said was true, if not complete, and your mother feels that her... friend is safe now. That's what matters, isn't it?"

"I still can't get over this whole 'honest spy' business," Jesse said, shaking his head. "It shouldn't work at all."

Nico smiled slightly. "Again, I never said I was a spy. There are other, better words for what I did, and I think it's best to leave it at that."

"Well, aren't we all working together now? I don't get to know what it is you did do? Westen's a spy, Sam's a SEAL, Fiona's IRA, Virgil's a SEAL, Westen's mom should have been _something,_ Xeno looks like he came out of a street gang, and the doctor seems like more than a therapist."

"Xeno did not come out of a street gang," Nico said, looking over at his second-in-command. Former second-in-command, Fiona supposed. "He'd have a few championship fight titles if the wrong people hadn't taken an interest in his career."

"Working for you was always better than getting my head knocked in," Xeno said, smiling a little. He set down another plate of pancakes and looked at Nico. "You sure about it, Boss? I'm not really looking to go back to New York without you."

Nico refilled his coffee. "Your job is to make sure that Reiten was the only one."

"After that, though, we're having another conversation, Boss."

"Fair enough."

* * *

><p>"So, I spoke to Vaughn earlier," Micheal began, looking around at the table. Santino probably didn't need to hear this, but she already knew more than she should, enough to where she might get in more trouble trying to figure out what they were trying to keep from her than it was worth concealing it. Besides, if Sam and Fi had their way, Santino would be so tangled up with Careles that if he was working with them, the woman would probably know—or guess too much anyway. Careles wasn't a talker, but she could read him pretty well, and that alone was dangerous.<p>

"Lovely," Sam muttered. "What did that piece of work have to say?"

"He's worried about a possible leak in their security. Some potentially dangerous and misleading information might have gotten into the wrong hands. It's a disaster for them, and they want me to look into it," Micheal answered, getting a few laughs and a lot of smiles from everyone at the table. Both sides knew that he'd gotten a hold of the information, but the people behind his burn notice seemed to think they could convince him not to trust what he'd found or do anything with it, just hand it back to them.

"They didn't say anything about you keeping new, dangerous company? I'm almost offended," Careles said, earning a look from everyone. He smiled and drank from his coffee.

"They know he's dating me," Fi reminded him. "They must figure it can't get any worse."

"Oh, it can," Sam said. He looked over at Nico. "Hey, you remember that thing in Panama with the whole—"

"Virgil will not be pleased if you discuss that Panama incident in front of his girlfriend's son," Careles interrupted, and Micheal shot him a dark look. Virgil was not his mother's—Micheal couldn't even finish the thought. It really was not something he wanted to think about. At all.

"What about Hayes?" Santino asked, intervening. She'd end up doing that a lot, Micheal figured, if she was going to be around them. It might be nice not having to be the one playing peacemaker all the time, not with Sam and Fiona. Then again, if someone was going to try and talk him into liking the situation between Virgil and his mother...

"He was taken to the hospital for treatment—in custody—but someone higher up the food chain picked him up. The people he was working for have him, and he's probably going to wish that he took Nico up on his offer of a deal," Sam answered. "From what little we know of them, the best he can expect is a remote prison. The worst..."

She nodded. "I think we all agree he deserves the worst, but we are sure he's not going to be moved somewhere else and allowed to rebuild, right?"

Careles put a hand on her shoulder. "Not that it should be of any comfort, but the man is far more of a liability now than he could ever be an asset. The best thing for them to do would be to cut their losses, and they're not afraid to do so."

She reached up and gripped his hand. "It _is _a comfort, Nico. It means me, my children, and those girls are safe. And that you are."

Careles looked down at her, struggling with how he felt about her. Micheal knew that look well. Sometimes, with Fiona—it was so much simpler to be apart, and at the same time, it wasn't. The man should listen to his own advice, though, and not push away the people that really mattered.

The door opened, and weapons were quickly aimed at the door until everyone saw Virgil and relaxed. "Wow. You're a trigger happy bunch this morning. I thought we'd be relaxing now that Hayes wasn't an issue and we were getting those girls home where they belong."

"Better paranoid than dead," Careles told him, even though he had not been one of the ones to draw a weapon. He was one who did better with hand-to-hand, unarmed combat, from what Sam had said. Maybe a knife fighter. It really depended on who they'd sent him to kill, didn't it?

"Speaking of, that guy you sent me to? Completely nuts. All those robots. He's got ones that—I don't even want to _think _about what they do for him," Virgil said, shaking his head as he passed the disk to Micheal. "He got it open, and in what I figure has to be record time. He _is_ good, just... insane."

"Thus the retirement home for the more or less senile," Careles said with a slight smile. "I take it he was in a cooperative mood?"

"Not until I used the word Ernesto, but that brought him around right quick," Virgil shook his head. "I don't think I want to know what happened to Ernesto."

"Above your pay grade."

"Figures."

Micheal looked over the disk. Sam got up and went for his laptop. They'd been working for this for a while now, but he didn't know how much this disk was actually worth. It could be that nothing would help them—or it was the break they had wanted for so long. This could be his ticket back in.

Fiona touched his arm, and he looked at her. "Whatever it is, Micheal, we'll deal with it together. I may not always understand why you have to do this, and I may not like the methods you use to get information on this burn notice, but I still care about you. Enough to stay by your side no matter what stupid idea is in your head."

"You just say that because you can't go back to Ireland anymore."

"No, I say that because I love you, you idiot," she muttered, rolling her eyes. She put her head on his shoulder. "Don't shut us out, no matter what's on that disk, okay?"

He kissed the top of her head. It was impossible to shut her out, no matter how hard he tried.

* * *

><p>"It's funny to think of a bunch of spies—former spies—and terrorists and SEALs having a beach party," Dani observed, shielding her eyes as she scanned the shoreline for her children. She'd lost track of them after they'd settled her in the with the pillows, and she had to yell at TK not overdue things, either. She felt like the oldest person here, but that wasn't true. Madeleine and Virgil were on a blanket of their own, sitting together like they might have as teenagers. "Shouldn't there be some kind of rule against it?"<p>

"It's not an ideal position."

"Try concealing a weapon in a bikini," Fiona added, shaking her head. She at least looked like she belonged at the beach. Micheal and Nico hadn't even tried. Sam's shirt was louder than usual, and he looked happy, but the others were just out of place. "And audio surveillance usually gets ruined. Still, we made a promise, and we keep our promises. Just don't expect Micheal to stay around long. Or your man for that matter."

Nico gave Fiona a look, but she was focused on Micheal. "Would you do my back, please?"

He took the sunblock from her and started putting it on. Fiona's smile remained smug, even though Micheal's eyes were barely on her back. He was scouting the area like he expected an attack any second. "How long do you figure?"

"They're at the house by now. Stop worrying, Micheal. If there's one thing Xeno knows how to do, it's take a convincing fall," Nico answered, and Dani looked up at him in surprise. Since when was it Micheal and not Westen?

"Is that why we're out here? As a part of some... plan?"

Nico smiled down at her. "Did you really think I'd come out to the beach for anything else? I never made any promises. No, this way they'd think it was clear enough to go after the disk."

"You're letting them steal it?"

Micheal nodded. "Yes. We are. If we do, hopefully they'll believe we weren't able to do anything with it, leaving us free to go through the files later. Otherwise, they'll be watching us. So we asked Xeno to take the disk to a computer tech who would never be able to break the encryption that was on there before, and on the way, they're going to get it back."

"But you had it decrypted."

"And copied and re-encrypted to send back."

Dani sighed. "Okay, I don't know when you found the time to do all that, and I'm still adjusting to the idea that everything has some kind of ulterior purpose with you, but I wish I'd known that before we came out here. I don't like being kept in the dark, and you _do _realize that as long as I can't move fast, I am a liability and _should _be warned."

"Maybe next time," Fiona told her with a sigh. "For all that they like to try and plan for everything, they have this nasty little habit of overlooking _telling _people those plans."

"Sometimes you like being surprised, Fi."

"I prefer being the one to do the surprising, but sometimes, yes," Fiona agreed, reaching over to touch Micheal's face and turn his head so she could kiss him.

Dani smiled. They could be so cute—and for a moment, she could forget just how dangerous they both could be. They weren't spy and terrorist right now. They were just a couple on a beach, and that... That was what the two of them should treasure, though she supposed as soon as this was done, Micheal would be off obsessing over the files he'd gotten.

She looked up at Nico again. "Shouldn't you at least _pretend _to be distracted? You look completely out of place, and won't they be expecting you to let them steal it back?"

"It's a possibility," Nico agreed, kneeling next to her chair. "Still, it's better they think we don't have the files—or at least better that we try and make them think that. Hmm. Terrence is going to injure himself again, despite Ms. Stevens' efforts to stop him."

"Vivica's good for him, and she'll nurse him back to health again after he's done being an idiot," Dani said. "What about you? Does all of this mean you made up your mind? Are you going to stay in Miami despite the heat that keeps you from your coats?"

"If I can adjust to New York after spending years south of the equator, I can handle Miami's weather, coat or no coat," he answered. "I'll be fine. You can stop worrying, too."

"You know me better than that," she reminded him, and he gave her a small smile. She reached over and took his hand, even though he gave her hand a look like it was some kind of monster. She put the other one over his, refusing to let him pull away. "Any suggestions on how I'm going to convince my children to go back and finish school after they've had a taste of Miami's beaches?"

"Be prepared for them to argue that you could build up a new therapy practice in Miami?" he offered, and she made a face. It wasn't that the thought hadn't crossed her mind, but it was a lot to deal with. Her work with the Hawks made it possible to keep her house, but she wouldn't have that if she moved. TK was giving real thought to the Miami offer—because he was interested in the beaches and parties, but then he had his relationship with Vivica to think about. If TK moved, that was one patient, but not enough to support her whole family, not like they were used to, not in Miami, and then there was Ray and visitation to think about. Her mother would be okay as long as there was a track to visit or game to bet on, but her ex would throw a giant fit about her moving the kids, and they would miss their father more than they realized right now.

"I'm tempted," Dani admitted, looking at Nico, and he shifted uncomfortably. "It's beautiful here. I've made friends here, and I'd like to continue working with the girls who had family locally, if I could, but there are so many things consider when it comes to moving, and I _do _have people who count on me back in New York."

"Then the decision is simple enough."

She shook her head, making sure he knew what she meant. "No, it isn't."

"There is the possibility of... a leave of absence. Obviously, it is impractical to pack up and move everything overnight—for some people. I have far more flexibility than you do—and in such a case, perhaps you could assess your finances, see if you can afford a short-term lease and attempt to build yourself the same type of practice that you had before. If you call it a leave of absence with the Hawks, the door may be open to return there if you can't make the situation elsewhere work. That doesn't answer the question of your ex-husband or your mother, though."

"Nah, give my mom something to gamble on, and she'll be fine," Dani laughed a little. "I'm not sure if anyone would survive her and Madeleine, though."

"Perhaps not. Mrs. Westen is a formidable woman, and the interaction between them could go either of two ways..."

"Yeah," Dani said, looking toward Virgil and Madeleine again. She used to think she'd get old with Ray, and now she knew that wasn't going to happen. She'd thought about the possibility with Matt, but for some reason, she couldn't picture him getting old. Odd. "Technically, with my ribs, I could be on medical leave. And what better place to recuperate than right here?"

"You would get very tan while you did it."

She laughed, pulling on the skirt of the dress for a second. She liked it, but all she'd get as far as a tan went was her arms and her feet. "Not until the ribs heal, but that's okay. As far as Ray goes, the kids could probably handle convincing him, if this was what they wanted. They might change their mind after the 'leave' was over."

"It sounds like you've thought all of this through."

"Just one more thing to factor in," she began, and Nico looked at her. She smiled. "You."

"You know where I will be, so why is that an issue?"

"It's more than knowing where you are—which is not as simple as you make it sound, either—it is about being able to be _with _you when you're here. I'm not saying you have to make any kind of commitment, just... that you're not going to avoid me if I find a way to stay."

"I don't think you'd ever allow yourself to be ignored, Danielle."

"Very true," she agreed, smiling like an idiot because he'd slipped and called her by her name and not her title, even if it was her full name. She sat up, ignoring the pain in her ribs as she did. He tried to coax her back down, and then she kissed him.


End file.
